Who Loves You?
by mmooch
Summary: When almost everyone turns on her, Buffy races into the night. She runs into a demon and kills it, only to suffer a serious injury that changes her life. WARNING: Seriously not Joyce or Scooby-friendly. Cross with CSI Miami and Diagnosis Murder
1. Chapter 1: Cause and Effect

**Who Loves You?**

Summary: When almost everyone turns on her, Buffy races into the night. She runs into a demon and killing it, only to suffer a serious injury. WARNING: Seriously not Joyce-friendly – or really Scooby for that matter.

Timeline: Season 3 _'Dead Man's Party'_ – BtVS

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. CSI: Miami characters belong to Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn, Ann Donahue and CBS. Diagnosis Murder characters belong to Joyce Burditt and CBS. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

A/N: AU in that Faith comes to town early _with_ her Watcher.

A/N2: I'm sorry for starting another story without finishing the others, but I just received my 100th recommendation on TtH and just had to celebrate. Bizarrely enough, posting a new fic does that for me.

Warning: Joyce definitely comes out looking bad here. Very, very bad! I have as many issues with this episode as I do _'Empty Places'_, so beware of how I handle that.

**Chapter 1: Cause and Effect**

**Summers' Home**

Xander snapped at the blonde Slayer, "God, don't you _ever _think of anyone but yourself? _'Oh poor, me…I had to send my demon boyfriend to hell. Boo-hoo-hoo.'_ Get over it already!"

"Didn't you even stop to think of the danger you left us all in by running away? Guess not, since you didn't even bother to check!" Cordelia added in her most haughty voice.

Shaken at the idea that Buffy almost left again, Joyce couldn't stop herself from saying, "You think that leaving me a note excuses you for not letting me know that you were alright? God, the nights of endless worrying about if you were alive or dead! Then you just come strolling back in like nothing happened and expect me to be okay with it?"

With tearful puppy eyes, Willow put in her own opinion, "I really thought that we were friends, Buffy. The fact that you left us like that just proves that you only care about us when we can do something for you. Maybe you should have just stayed away."

The others nodded their agreement.

Buffy stood there in shock for a full minute, just blinking at the anger and resentment pouring off her mother and 'friends'. She saw Oz and Giles walking back into the room from the kitchen, rage in both their eyes. Before they could start in on her too, she turned and fled the house – not caring that it was dark and she was unarmed.

However, the two men in question _did_. Giles was the first to speak, "What the hell were you all thinking? The whole point of tonight was to show Buffy that we wanted her home! Not only did you have a party that basically excluded her, you ganged up and drove her out into the night…without weapons!" Then he raced out the door, stopping to grab two of the swords laying on the floor from the earlier battle.

"Watcher's pet," Xander spat. "He feels the same way, but since she's the _Slayer_, he won't do anything about it. Maybe if he'd had better control over her, she wouldn't have screwed up so badly then run away."

Oz felt like growling at the guy; he really didn't get how much he hurt her – none of them did. "Not cool, man. Giles is right; you all crossed the line."

"But you agreed before," Willow pointed out, wondering why her boyfriend was taking _her_ side all of a sudden.

Still fighting the urge, Oz kept his face calm while he explained his apparent change of attitude, "I should have said something earlier, but I was _hoping_ you'd wake up on your own. Guess I was wrong." He gave Willow a sad look, then shook his head in disappointment and went out the door as well – weapons in hand.

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**Restfield Cemetery**

Giles and Oz hurried to the sounds of fighting in the nearest cemetery. Oz had caught up with Giles almost immediately, then used his wolfy sniffer to find where Buffy was. Their faces were determined, yet concerned, as they raced towards the battle. Once they arrived, they froze momentarily at the sight of the eight foot demon batting Buffy around like a rag doll.

Quickly shaking himself out of his stupor, Giles called out to the fallen Slayer as he tossed her his sword. Only her will to survive allowed her the strength to catch it, then use it on her enemy. At the same time she shakily took its head, Buffy was struck one last time…flying headfirst into a nearby mausleoum.

The sight snapped Oz into action as well. He rushed to her side, checking for signs of a broken neck. When he didn't find any, he carefully lifted her in his arms, making sure that her head and neck were adequately supported.

Under normal circumstances, he knew that you shouldn't move someone when you were worried about spinal injury. But these were hardly normal circumstances. She needed medical attention quickly, and they couldn't count on an ambulance to come to a cemetery in the middle of the night. A house maybe, but never a cemetery.

A quick glance at Giles showed that he agreed with the action. Once outside the gates, Giles ran back to the house to get his car so they could take her to the hospital. Oz walked behind him slowly, so as not to risk hurting Buffy any further.

Minutes later, Giles arrived, and they raced to the hospital, each hoping that this wouldn't be the night the small blonde fell for good. As it was, only their concern for her well-being kept them from turning around and showing the people gathered at 1630 Revello Drive what their harsh words caused to happen.

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**Sunnydale Memorial Hospital**

After they handed Buffy off to the ER personnel, Giles reluctantly made his way to the phone to inform Joyce about Buffy's condition. If it were up to him, she could just spend the night wondering where Buffy was. Unfortunately though, she was the girl's legal guardian – he refused to use the term 'mother' – and therefore was the person needed for medical decisions.

When the woman answered, he tersely told her to get to the hospital then hung up before he said anything he might _not_ regret.

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Many hours later, the doctor walked out to the waiting area to find a crowd sitting there.

"I'm looking for the family of Buffy Summers," she called out.

Joyce stood up immediately. "I'm her mother. These are family friends. How is my daughter doing?" she begged, the picture of maternal concern.

"She's hanging in there. Apparently, she's quite the fighter," the doctor said with a small amount of awe in her voice. "Given the broken bones and internal injuries, I'm surprised that she survived her attackers. However, it's her head injury that concerns me the most. She has a lot of swelling, and we've had to put her into a false coma to give her time to recover. If the swelling doesn't go down soon though, we'll have to operate again to relieve the pressure."

Feeling a tight clenching in his stomach, Giles stammered, "What do you mean, 'operate _again'_?"

The doctor looked at the poor man with sympathy; it was clear he was devastated by the girl's injuries. "We had to go in immediately to relieve the build up. Unfortunately, it has started to build again."

"Can we go see her?" Joyce asked, trying to draw the attention away from the man she held responsible for her daughter's life and pain.

The doctor nodded at her. "Just you for now. And only for a few minutes. I feel I must warn you though – she doesn't look good. So, try not to be alarmed when you see her."

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**Days later…**

When Buffy didn't wake up right away, everyone started fearing the worst. However, her condition did improve, and she was allowed visitors as long as they weren't disruptive. And even though they were still mad, Giles and Oz saw the anguish on the others' faces and decided to let it go…for now. Besides, Joyce was the next of kin; only she had the right to bar them.

One afternoon, everyone had the same idea and showed up at the same time to visit Buffy. It was only a few minutes later that the machines started beeping. Giles ran out to get a nurse, a doctor, an orderly…just _someone_ to help his darling girl! By the time he came back in the room, her eyelids started fluttering as she slowly woke up.

Before anyone could say anything, the doctor shooed them all out so she could examine Buffy. Not surprisingly – at least to the doctor – Buffy first complained about the pain in her head, then responded in confusion and fear when the doctor asked for her name.

"I don't remember. Why can't I remember?" she started to panic.

The doctor put a hand on her shoulder to ease her worries. "Calm down. You had a serious head injury with some major damage to your brain; it's completely understandable that you would have some memory loss," she explained rationally. "Maybe seeing your friends and family will jog your memory."

Buffy answered in a scared, small voice, "Okay."

If The doctor knew Buffy at all, that would have concerned her more than the physical injuries did. But she didn't, so she simply left to bring the gang in.

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A/N: Next… Hearing thoughts. (Us, not them. No 'aspect of the demon' going on here.)


	2. Chapter 2: What’cha Thinking?

**Chapter 2: What'cha Thinking?**

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. CSI: Miami characters belong to Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn, Ann Donahue and CBS. Diagnosis Murder characters belong to Joyce Burditt and CBS. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

A/N: Thanks to AshDawnSoulmates and zigpal for betaing this for me.

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**Buffy's hospital room**

Dr. Karen Matthews finished examining her patient, asking seemingly random questions while she did so. But from Buffy's answers, the doctor was able to ascertain that Buffy's amnesia was limited to personal information. Other than those questions, Karen found the young woman to be very intelligent and somewhat witty – despite her profound fear.

After reassuring Buffy that everything looked good, Karen stepped out to talk to the people who had been sitting at her bedside the last few days. She explained about Buffy's memory loss, and was surprised to see suspicion flash in several of the people's eyes. She warned them not to push her too much; even though she just woke up, she shouldn't be over-stimulated.

They made their promises, yet still rushed to Buffy's bedside, hugging and touching her. They kept exclaiming how happy they were that she was better, and not to worry, she'd get her memory back. Even Cordelia joined them, albeit somewhat reluctantly.

The only two to hold back at first were Giles and Oz. They just stood there, watching her, worried for her mental well-being now that her physical injuries were better. Eventually, the doctor nudged them forward, curious about her reaction to them.

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**Buffy's POV**

What could have happened to me? Was I in some sort of accident? Did somebody beat me up?

The doctor said those people are my friends and family, but they don't look familiar to me. Wait! There _is_ something about that older guy! The look in his eyes seems…I wonder if he's my dad. It seems as if he loves me.

Not like the lady the doctor is talking to. I guess she must be my mother or something. Oh, I get it, they must be divorced and she got custody of me. The way she's looking at me, I wonder why she wanted it – unless it was just to hurt him. Yeah, she's saying she loves me and how happy she is that I'm okay, but the look in her eyes doesn't match her words. Was _she_ the one who hurt me?

Except…the kids are doing the same thing she is: saying one thing, but meaning another. Okay, not the redheaded boy. For one, he's not talking at all. And I can't tell what he's thinking. There is something about him, though. He makes my insides feel kinda tingly. Maybe he's my boyfriend? But if he were, wouldn't he say or do something? I bet I just have a crush on him; he _is_ awfully cute.

I wish they would stop touching me! Can't they tell it's making me uncomfortable? The only two that aren't doing it are the ones that I wish would.

My mother must have my dad pretty scared if he won't even touch me. And they have different last names; she must have gone back to her maiden name – or gotten remarried.

Maybe I can just plead with him using my eyes. I doubt that she would be happy if I asked for him verbally. Success! Wow, his touch is way comforting! Maybe if we have a chance to be alone I can ask him to fight for custody of me. If the way I feel around them is any indication, I'd much rather be with him.

Double success! Apparently getting my dad to comfort me, made my crush guy feel like he had to try, too. I wonder why he looks nervous about it. Could he feel the tinglies like me? They seem to be getting even bigger the closer he gets. Huh, his touch is sorta like my dad's – in the way that it makes me feel better. Not that it is brotherly at all, 'cause my thoughts are not like that. Unless I'm into incest…which, EWWW!!!

But the two girls, the dark-haired boy, and my mother…it's almost as if they are angry at me for something. For getting hurt? For surviving? What?

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**Doctor's POV**

Interesting…Of the six people in the room, she only maintains eye contact with the two that brought her in. The other four…I wonder what it is that she sees in their eyes that makes her eyes flicker in fear. Not to mention the way she flinches slightly at their touch. Even her mother's. I wish she could tell me why. Is she abused?

I know the other two brought her in, claiming she had been mugged, but what if it was her mother? Or maybe one of the others. All of them look like they had been fighting. I should get Nicki to come check this out. We'll do the 'specialist' routine, and she can make her shrink diagnosis. There is something strange going on here.

At least she feels safe with Mr. Giles and Mr. Osbourne. That's a good sign.

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**Joyce's POV**

I can't believe that she's acting like this – even without her memory! I bet she's just faking it. Does she think I can't tell that she prefers _that man's_ attention more than mine?

It's just like it was with Hank! She's 'Daddy's little princess', and I'm the evil Queen for wanting to be more than window-dressing. I really thought when I convinced her that Hank didn't want anything to do with her and vice versa, that _finally_, I'd get to be the most important person in someone's life.

Then _he_ came along, spouting off about her 'sacred destiny' and everything. Suddenly, I'm pushed aside again! Well, not this time! I will do whatever I have to get rid of him, one way or another. Hmmm, I have just the way to do it, too.

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**Oz's POV**

Why are they doing this? Buffy is clearly upset by all the people in the room, staring at her like she owes them something. That if she really cared, she would remember them. It's just like them to be so selfish at a time like this. I really misread Willow; she seemed so sweet and loving when I first met her.

I wonder what happened last spring. There had to be more going on than we knew. The pressure of being wanted by the police, expelled from school, and kicked out by her mom might have been enough to make one of us fold, but not Buffy. Okay, adding in her friends being hurt or killed might have done it…except I don't think so. It had to be something to do with Angelus.

Willow was so sure that the spell worked, and we saw the light show. But if he turned back to Angel and left, she wouldn't have run away for months. A few days maybe, to get him set up someplace new. But months? No, it was something else.

Okay, what could it have been? Of the options where he's gone and she's alive, there are three. I've just discounted the first one. The second one would be that we were wrong about the spell working and she dusted Angelus. That still wouldn't explain her leaving, though.

Shit! That leaves the worst one: the spell worked and she killed Angel. Was it accidental, or did she have to in order to stop Acathla? Have to talk to Giles about this idea later. He'd be the only one to care right now.

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A/N: Next…Hearing conversations.


	3. Chapter 3: Plans and Schemes

**Chapter 3: Plans and Schemes**

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. CSI: Miami characters belong to Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn, Ann Donahue and CBS. Diagnosis Murder characters belong to Joyce Burditt and CBS. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

A/N: Thanks to AshDawnSoulmates, nightshadowlife and zigpal for betaing this for me. This chapter is in honor of all the pain and suffering one woman went through many years ago to bring AshDawnSoulmates into the world. If not for her, I wouldn't have a fabulous beta and cheerleader.

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**Dr. Matthews' office**

After a few minutes more of observing the group, the doctor decided that Buffy had enough and shooed everyone out. Then she called her friend, Dr. Nicole Hobbes, a psychiatrist who just happened to have done her thesis on the different types of memory loss. Dr. Matthews thought it might prove useful in this case. The other doctor said she'd be there as soon as she could.

Once Nicki got there a couple hours later with a few of her interns, she asked, "Now, what's so special about this girl that you dragged me down here from LA?"

Karen showed her the brain scans from Buffy's recovery, starting with the first ones up until the latest ones. "All the physical reasons for her memory loss have gone away already – after only a few days. However, it's her reactions to her mother and friends that bothers me." She went on to explain how Giles and Oz brought Buffy in, claiming she had been mugged; how the whole group hovered by her bedside for days until she woke up; how Buffy reacted to the attention they all gave her.

Leaning back in her chair, Nicki summarized, "Okay. So you're saying she was scared of her mother and three of her friends, but the two that brought her in, she felt comfortable with?"

"Yeah. And all seven of them looked like they had been in a fight," Karen added.

Nicki narrowed her eyes at her friend and demanded, "Why didn't you notify the police about the suspected abuse?"

Karen snorted derisively, "I did! But the detective that came to 'investigate' – someone named Stein – took one look at Buffy and said she probably had it coming, then left. Oh, but not before he said to be sure to tell the_ others_ if they wanted to press charges against _her_, to give him a call."

Shaking her head at the sheer idiocy of the detective, Nicki managed to ask, "You've got to be kidding! What did his supervisor say?"

"That the detective had his full support, and if he thought there was no case, then they wouldn't waste taxpayer dollars on it. I got the same line of crap all the way up to the Mayor," Karen replied, her anger evident.

"Wow. Makes you wonder if they're just lazy or corrupt." Nicki sighed, "So, that option is out."

Karen gave her a plaintive look. "That's why I called you. I hoped that if there was something strange going on, you could file a report to the state agencies to back mine up."

Thinking over the situation from all possible angles, Nicki suggested, "Have you tried to talk to the ones that brought her in?"

The doctor shook her head sadly, "I haven't been able to get them alone since she woke up. And the way the mother is acting, I can't risk having her pull me off Buffy's case."

"You're the best neurologist here. You really think she would do that to her own child?" Nicki inquired doubtfully. Was the woman really that spiteful or stupid?

"I don't know. Maybe my radar is all screwy on this one," Karen admitted. "Could you do your 'specialist' routine and check them out?" she pleaded.

"Sure. Just let me call my partner, Jack, and have him come down. We'll need to have another psychiatrist to help with our ruse – somebody the mother can discuss treatment options with. He can also interview everyone in a formal setting." Nicki paused for a breath before continuing with her plan, "You and I will watch them interact one-on-one with her, and these guys will listen to the conversations in the waiting room. See what everyone is saying when they don't think anyone is paying attention. It wouldn't be admissible, but it should give us a clue if we're on the right track or not," she admitted.

Karen let out the breath she had been holding, relieved to have help in this. "Right now, all I want to do is help her. We would still have our observations and Jack's to share with the authorities."

"Okay. Let's go get this started, then," Nicki said, then turned to her interns to give them instructions on what to do.

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**Waiting room**

Dr. Matthews gathered all of Buffy's visitors together to explain, "Having so many people in the room is too stressful on Buffy. What Dr. Hobbes and I would like to try is for you to visit her one person at a time."

Sensing this was the best time for her to put her plan into motion, Joyce pulled the doctors to the side to tell them privately, "I'm sorry, doctors, but I'm not comfortable with Mr. Giles being alone with Buffy."

Dr. Hobbes gave her an unreadable look. "Really. Do you think there's something going on between them?" she inquired clinically. She was starting to get a handle on this woman. Call it instincts, but it wasn't good for the patient's mother.

Joyce decided to hedge, "I can't say for certain; it's just a feeling I have."

"I see. Well, there's no reason to worry. One or both of us will be present for all the talks so we can monitor Buffy's response," Dr. Matthews assured her. "Nothing will happen to her."

Upset that her visit would be watched as well, Joyce faked her response, "Oh. That's great. Now who is Dr. Hobbes again?"

The neurologist gave her the line they had used in the past, "She's a specialist who's had experience with memory loss patients. She'll be able to help come up with a treatment plan. Now, why don't you go first?"

After Joyce walked away, Karen whispered to Nicki, "Are the others ready to start listening in out here?"

"Yep. They'll filter in and sit where they can hear the others the easiest," Nicki answered quietly.

They both missed the strange look they got from one of the people in the room.

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**Buffy's room**

Over the course of the next hour or so, the doctors watched as each person made their way into Buffy's room. The first four sent almost guilty glances at the observers before turning their attention to the young woman laying on the bed.

Hobbes found it very telling that Joyce, Willow, Xander and Cordelia used commanding language with Buffy. Things like she _had_ to get better, or she _had _to remember_._ They would tell her about events from the past. Happy times they wanted her to recall.

In sharp contrast, when Oz came in, he simply asked if there was anything he could do for her. And though he was startled by the request – as indicated by his raised eyebrow – he held her hand and simply talked to her when that was her answer. Not about their shared past, but about music, books, movies…anything that made her happy and comfortable.

However, it was Buffy's reaction to Giles that the doctors most wanted to analyze – especially given Joyce's vague allegations against him. Buffy's earlier response didn't indicate anything coercive. But the fact she was a minor wouldn't help him if it was consensual.

Joyce's dislike of the man was certainly real enough. The question the doctors had to figure out was why? Was it something he did or something she was hiding?

Giles came to the bedside, looking like he was fighting with himself to keep from touching Buffy. An action that caught the doctors' attention. "How are you coping, dear girl?" he inquired politely.

She gave him the saddest look he had seen on her since she had to confess to sleeping with Angel. "I could use a hug, Daddy," she whimpered softly. Then she grabbed him before he could say anything, burying herself into his arms.

Which was a good thing, since he just stood there, blinking. "What?" he asked in a daze.

Buffy missed the question, though, and returned with her own, "Could you fight for custody of me? I don't think Mom really likes me."

Giles stroked her hair to comfort her. "Oh, your mother loves you; she's just upset right now. But, Buffy, I'm not your father," he told her gently.

But she still burst into sobs at the revelation. She was so certain he loved her. "You're not?" she managed to gasp out in between her cries.

"No, sweet girl. I'm just a friend from the high school. You and your friends hang out in the library, and that's where I work. You aren't very close to your father, so I think you have just substituted me for him in some ways," he explained, still trying to calm her down.

"So you don't really care about me?" Buffy asked, sniffling.

Giles grabbed her chin tightly and forced her to look at him. "Of course I do. You are very special to me! Never doubt that, do you understand?" he insisted vehemently, his own eyes bright with unshed tears.

She cheered up marginally. "Alright. As long as I can still have the hugs," she countered.

Now that she quieted down, he let go of her to take his glasses off to wipe them. "Whatever you need," he vowed.

Buffy gave him one of her trademark pouts – designed to get him to acquiesce to her demands. "Cool. Can you sneak me in some ice cream then?" she requested slyly.

Giles chuckled, heartened by her return to normalcy – even if she didn't know it. "Just tell me what kind."

"Thanks…what do I call you?" she suddenly asked, realizing that she hadn't considered it. She had been so sure he was her father, she didn't think about it before.

He smiled at her. "Giles."

"Your _last_ name?" she replied, looking doubtful.

"You didn't like my first name: Rupert," he clarified.

Buffy wrinkled her nose and commented, "I can see why."

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A/N: Next…What the interns overheard.


	4. Chapter 4: What the Interns Overheard

**Chapter 4: What the Interns Overheard**

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. CSI: Miami characters belong to Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn, Ann Donahue and CBS. Diagnosis Murder characters belong to Joyce Burditt and CBS. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

A/N: Thanks to nightshadowlife, AshDawnSoulmates and zigpal for betaing this for me.

A/N2: Sorta a flashback for this chapter. Corresponds with chapter 3.

* * *

**Waiting room**

"Where's Mrs. S?" Xander asked as he handed out the sodas and took a seat.

Willow took a small sip before replying, "She's talking to the doctors about Buffy's treatment. They're bringing in a psychiatrist since it's a mental problem."

Cordelia snorted at that, but uncharacteristically kept her mouth shut.

Unaware of their audience, Xander told the others his theory, "Does anyone else think that Buff might be faking this amnesia thing?"

"What do you mean?" Cordelia asked before she realized she already knew the answer…mostly because it had crossed her mind.

Xander mostly just looked at the girls, since Oz didn't seem interested in his idea. In fact, Willow's boyfriend was barely acting like he was part of the group anymore – even with her. "It's just…I watched her when we were in there before. When one of us talked to her or touched her, she flinched. But when Giles or Oz did it, she practically lapped up the attention," he explained, unable to contain the sneer in his voice.

"Hey, Dweeb-boy has a point," Cordelia agreed, ignoring the protest from her boyfriend over the name she called him; it was a pet name and he knew it. "She even backed away from her mom one time."

Her mind racing, trying to remember the blonde Slayer's reactions from before, Willow inquired, almost to herself, "But why would she fake it?"

But Cordelia answered her anyway, "It's obvious. If she remembers, then she has to face us and how badly she screwed things up. On the other hand, if she doesn't, then we'll be fawning all over her, being all 'Poor Buffy' – kinda like we are," she pointed out.

Happy that he wasn't the only one who saw this, Xander chipped in proudly, "Exactly!"

Willow bit her lip in concentration. On the one hand, it did make an awful lot of sense, but on the other-- "I'm not so sure. What do you think, Oz?" she asked, turning to her boyfriend for his input.

The young werewolf considered the question for a long moment. Finally, he remarked bluntly, "I think…you want me to agree with them. That way you don't have to feel bad for doubting your friend."

Somehow the other boy's response wasn't a surprise to Xander. He couldn't stop himself from snarking, "Oh please! It's a little convenient that she lost her memory this time. I mean, how many times has she gotten hit in the head before? But she _only_ loses her memory after we've fought with her?" he inquired, his disbelief clear.

Not backing down, Oz pointed out, "Doesn't mean she's faking. Just means she doesn't' see a reason to remember – or at least her subconscious doesn't. Not the same thing."

Despite the fact she didn't like fighting with Oz, Willow sided with her best friend, "I think Xander is right. After all, she was going to run away again before the fight – just like she did last spring," she said bitterly. After everything they did to help Buffy, and she just left them without so much a goodbye – just a stupid note to her mother. They almost died that night and did she care?

Seeing that his usual stoicism wouldn't work here, Oz went for the wordy response, "Well, let's talk about last spring for a minute. She was kicked out of her house by her mom-- okay, told not to come back if she left to help Giles. This was _after_ Snyder expelled her from school and told the police she killed Kendra. To top it all off, she had to dust the man she loved. It's no wonder she needed some time to recover."

But Xander wasn't the least bit mollified. "Angel wasn't a man; he was a monster."

"Just like I am three nights a month?" Oz asked, trying to make them understand.

Willow hesitated slightly, then said placatingly, "It's different with you--"

Oz cut her off, a little hurt that she hesitated – even for a second – and annoyed that she didn't get it, "No, it isn't. The only thing that's different is you can tell when I'm not in control. Angel looked the same as Angelus." He continued, having seen the truth in Cordelia and Xander's eyes when he asked his question earlier, "It's good to know how you really think of me. I'm going to go somewhere that isn't here. By the way, did any of you consider just _who_ it was that Buffy had to slay to close the portal?" he couldn't help but ask.

Caught off-guard by the apparent change of subject, Willow sputtered, "What do you mean?" Why was _her_ boyfriend trying to stick up for Buffy so much? He was supposed to be on her side, not Buffy's.

Having just joined them, Giles heard Oz's question about who Buffy slayed. The answer had occurred to him over the summer, and the possibility broke his heart. "You said you felt the spell work, Willow. We know Acathla was awakened because his sword wasn't in the statue anymore – the one Kendra brought was. If Angelus was already dead or gone, I doubt the spell would have been completed. That means Buffy had to kill _Angel_ to close the portal – not the monster who had plagued us for months." He turned to the redheaded boy. "Is that what you were thinking, Oz?"

Oz nodded, relieved that at least _one_ other person was smart enough to come to the same conclusion, "Yep. Came to me earlier; was gonna mention it to you privately." Then the two of them grabbed seats a little bit separate from the others.

After each Scooby came back from visiting with Buffy, they filled the other two – as well as Joyce – what happened. Giles and Oz chose to sit apart from the group, which pleased Joyce, but also made her nervous for some reason. It was one thing if _she_ isolated him, but quite another for him to voluntarily distance himself.

When they tried to demand accounts of Oz and Giles' visits, they were met with stony glares.

* * *

**Waiting room, different part**

Taking a moment to collect himself after the heartbreaking scene with his Slayer, Giles joined Oz. They were far enough from the others that he felt comfortable asking, "How did your visit go?"

"Good. I think she might have the wrong idea about our relationship, though," Oz answered with a small grimace.

Giles sensed there was something similar to his own visit. "Why?"

Looking directly into the Watcher's eyes so that he got the full meaning of his words, Oz replied, "She was looking at me like I was Angel."

"Oh dear lord!" Giles removed his glasses to polish them again, although a part of his brain thought the girl could do far worse – and had.

Oz tried to reassure him, "Don't worry; there was nothing besides friendly talk going on. She didn't remember anything, but then again, I wasn't really trying to make her remember," he explained, not sure if he did the right thing or not.

"I'm sure it was fine. They would have told us if they wanted us to attempt to force her memories," Giles pointed out. The doctors really hadn't given them any instruction on their visits.

"What about your talk?" Oz wondered, not wanting to dwell on if he did the right thing or not with how he treated Buffy.

Clearing his throat awkwardly, Giles stuttered slightly, "I'm afraid there was another misunderstanding. She seemed to be under the impression I was her father. She even requested I fight Joyce for custody," he said in a hushed tone.

Oz gave a small smile. "I can see why she'd think that about you."

"Really?" Giles felt inexplicably proud by the easy assessment. He would have loved nothing more than to tell Buffy he was her father, and that she could stay with him when she got out of the hospital.

Grinning inwardly at the man's obvious pleasure, Oz said, "Sure. Without her memories, all she has to go on is her observations since waking up. It's obvious from watching you that you care deeply about her, so in her mind, she equated that to father – seeing as you're the right age. And she probably picked up on the semi-hostile vibes from her mom and the others."

Turning the tables on the young werewolf, Giles asked, "What about you?"

"No clue there," Oz answered honestly. He wished he knew; it was a little intimidating to have those hazel eyes gazing at him like that.

Giles sighed. "Too bad we can't ask her."

Nodding his agreement, Oz brought up an unpleasant subject, "Oh, thought you should know that the others think she might be faking her amnesia to get out of facing her responsibilities and mistakes," he paraphrased.

The Watcher pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. "Of course they do. Well, it doesn't matter whether _they_ believe or not – as long as they don't interfere with the doctors."

"Right. That brings up something else I needed to tell you. We're being watched right now – possibly recorded," Oz commented lightly.

Giles' head snapped up at that. "What makes you think that?"

Casually looking around the room, Oz briefly stopped on each of their observers – just long enough for Giles to take note. "There's at least three 'visitors' in this room I saw with the doctors earlier. They don't appear to be waiting for anyone, and manage to sit close enough to us to hear our conversations. That, and the doctors mentioned something to that effect."

"Did you warn the others?" Giles inquired, looking at the Scoobies and Joyce Summers.

Oz shook his head, "Nah. Somehow I thought the doctors wanted an honest assessment of what Buffy's friends and family were feeling and saying. I'm guessing they saw the same thing I did when we were all in there before."

Chuckling wryly, Giles said, "I see. Then they probably think we're all certifiable now – given our previous conversation about Angel."

"Or maybe they know the truth about what really goes on around here," Oz shot back with a sense of optimism.

Giles couldn't help but chuckle at that. "That would certainly be fortuitous, wouldn't it?" However, he didn't really hold out hope that that would be the case.

* * *

A/N: Next…A treatment plan.


	5. Chapter 5: You’re Kidding!

**Chapter 5: You're Kidding!**

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. CSI: Miami characters belong to Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn, Ann Donahue and CBS. Diagnosis Murder characters belong to Joyce Burditt and CBS. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

A/N: Thanks to AshDawnSoulmates and zigpal for betaing this for me. Sorry to the other betas for not waiting for them. I wanted to get this out while it was still Christmas Day.

* * *

**Dr. Matthews' office**

Karen stared at her friend and trusted colleague when they got comfortable in their seats. "Well, that certainly was interesting."

Nodding her agreement, Nicki added, "But it did confirm our thoughts about who she felt comfortable with and who bothered her." That part was certainly clear enough – even without her formalized training.

"Now we just need to consider the reason _why_. What do you think about Ms. Summers' claim of abuse?" the neurologist inquired. She had her own opinion, but since she was a layman, she wasn't sure how accurate that would be.

The psychiatrist shook her head. "Unless they were both into the 'daddy' fetish, it is highly unlikely. There was nothing sexual about the way she was looking at him." They might not have been able to trust the man's reactions – especially since he knew he was being watched – but Buffy should have been easy to catch. Either that, or she was an exceptional actress.

"Yeah, that was somewhat of a surprise." Karen smiled sadly at the memory of Buffy calling Mr. Giles 'Daddy'. It made her wish that he was her father for the young lady's sake. "I'd be willing to bet if he were able to, Mr. Giles would fight for custody of her, though. It just makes me wonder about her relationship with her mother," she added with a frown. Why would she shy away from her own mother and reach out to somebody who she couldn't have known for more than two years? Unless they knew each other in LA before the Summers moved to Sunnydale.

Nicki started making her notes for her partner. She mentioned an idea out loud, more to herself than anything, "What I'd like now is to have a control group to test her reactions against."

But Karen responded anyway, "Who? Other classmates?"

She shook her head again. Nicki's plan was to see how Buffy interacted with those closest to her. Generally speaking, that would be family. Besides, she had been in the hospital for several days and these were the only friends that had visited her. "No. Other family members. Plus, it has the added bonus of possibly sparking her memory. Either way, we should get a clearer picture of her mental state," she explained with a shrug.

Rubbing her hands over her eyes, Karen remarked pessimistically, "And we have to hope there is family and that Ms. Summers is willing to consent."

Nicki's eyes narrowed angrily at the possibility that the patient's mother might stand in their way. "She will if she doesn't want to interfere with her daughter's treatment. And if that happens, at least we'll know that about their relationship. It might be a good idea to get our hands on Buffy's full medical history to rule out prior abuse."

There was a knock at the door and the interns came in to give their reports, now that their subjects went home for the evening.

Sarah Branch, the first intern, started first with: "She's had many head injuries before, but this is the first time she's suffered memory loss. Which lead her friends to believe she's faking. Her mom agreed with them when they mentioned it to her." She had seen the looks on the people's faces when they said what they did; they truly believed the patient would do this.

"Why?" Dr. Hobbes questioned, hoping the people were loose-tongued enough to spill as much as possible for them. It was almost as helpful as 'truth serum' to get the real story from people.

The second intern, Anthony Jameson answered this time, "Apparently they had a big argument with her just before this happened. They think she wants to avoid dealing with that."

When he paused, Sarah took over again, "And that's where the conversation started to get weird. There was some serious back-story from last spring that we just got the highlights of. She was apparently kicked out of her house by her mother for wanting to help Mr. Giles. The part I didn't understand was she had to 'dust' the man she loved," she added, the confusion on her face evident.

Anthony looked baffled by that as well. "Yeah, that threw me too. Then the boy called Xander said the man was a monster and the other boy claimed to be one himself three nights a month."

Dr. Hobbes stared at the third intern for a moment before commenting, "Richard. You don't seem as confused as the other two. Why not?"

He knew that he might be putting himself at risk for his own pysch evaluation, but Richard O'Neill vowed never to lie if asked directly about the supernatural. If he did and somebody died because of it, he wouldn't be able to live with himself. "Well, I can't say I understand everything they talked about since I don't know the full context. However, the 'weird' stuff isn't new to me. I've dealt with it before back home in Ohio."

This was news to the psychiatrist. One of her team knew the truth as well. This could actually work to their benefit. "Okay. Why don't all of you write up your own observations and give me the tapes. I'll transcribe them myself. Richard, I'd like to talk to you later," she tacked on with an inscrutable expression.

He sighed to himself as he prepared for who knows what. To her, he just nodded resignedly, "Yes, Dr. Hobbes."

* * *

Once the door closed tightly again, Karen turned on Nicki to demand, "What was that all about?"

Nicki let out a slow sigh, then inquired, "Let me ask you something first. Have you noticed a lot of strange medical cases around here? Say…barbecue fork accidents or wild animal attacks in town?" she gave the two most common explanations.

"It's not really my department, but I've overheard some talk. Why?" Karen asked warily. Something told her she wouldn't like the answer she got.

Her friend gave her a rueful smile, like Nicki knew she wouldn't like the answer either. "Did you ever wonder what it was really about? You don't think it's odd for there to be so many 'accidents' like that?"

Karen half-shrugged, half-nodded, "Course I do. You're suggesting the hospital is hiding something, though?"

"It may not be intentional on their part, but yes, I'd be willing to bet that over 99% of those fork accidents are something else," Nicki said with a grimace. She wondered what the 'accident' rate was here.

"What? People pretending to be vampires?" Karen retorted sarcastically. Did her friend really expect her to fall for this?

Nicki could tell her friend would be hard to convince, but she offered anyway, "No. People who really _are_ vampires."

The look on Karen's face would have been hilarious if the situation wasn't so serious. "You're kidding. _Please_ tell me you're kidding!" she pleaded.

But Nicki shook her head apologetically. "Really would like to. Except I got the hard introduction into that world about a year ago. I had to go to a shelter in a rough neighborhood and got caught there after dark. These two girls backed me up against a wall and said they wanted a drink. I thought they meant alcohol, but then one of them bit me."

She reached for her collar and pulled it away to show her injury, then continued her story, "Before she could take too much blood, a guy staked her from behind while one of his friends took care of the other one. He introduced himself as Charles Gunn and told me to be more careful after dark."

Karen decided to set aside the unbelievable part for the moment to ask, "What did the police do about the bodies of the vampires?"

"There was nothing to do; they were just two piles of ashes that scattered when the wind picked up," Nicki explained.

The neurologist stood up and inspected the wound closer. She collapsed on a nearby chair as it hit her. "Oh my gosh, you're telling me the truth!"

"Uh-huh. Well…this might change things then." When Karen gave her a blank look, Nicki told her, "Buffy's injuries could have been caused by something that wasn't human."

That wasn't something they really wanted to consider.

* * *

They went on to work on other cases until the interns finished their reports. After the trio dropped them off, Dr. Hobbes ordered them to stay in the hospital, near the patient. Her reasoning was two-fold. One, she wanted somebody with Buffy at all times. Two, she didn't want her interns outside at night.

Dr. Hobbes turned to Dr. Matthews when she finished reading all three summaries. She would listen to the tapes later. "We should ask Mr. Giles or Mr. Osbourne…but not here; let's talk to them privately."

* * *

A/N: Next…Revelations and Surprises.


	6. Chapter 6: Revelations and Surprises

**Chapter 6: Revelations and Surprises**

A/N: Canon change – Joyce was the driving force behind committing Buffy. Hank was out of town when it happened. Just a reminder to everyone that this is an anti-Joyce fic. I took the worst of her character from the series and movie and amplified it. I know she wasn't like this on the show, but that's why this is fanfic and not canon.

Warning: I don't know; maybe language and innuendo somewhere along the way.

Thanks to my betas: nightshadowlife, AshDawnSoulmates, zigpal, ktweaver, AerynSpeedleCaine and TroyGuffey.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. CSI: Miami characters belong to Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn, Ann Donahue and CBS. Diagnosis Murder characters belong to Joyce Burditt and CBS. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

**Giles' car**

**Next afternoon…**

"You really think this is a good idea, Giles?" Oz questioned the Watcher as they drove to the Sunnydale Inn.

Giles wished he had let Oz drive, so he could remove his glasses and give them a wipe. "Well, they claim that it could be important to Buffy's treatment. My only reservation is that we are meeting at Dr. Hobbes' hotel room instead of the hospital."

"But if they wanted to lock us up for being nuts, it would be easier to do it where they had a lot of help," Oz suggested optimistically. He smiled sadly at the comment that reminded him of the girl he fell in love with. He wondered what happened to her; was she even real?

"That is good news. However, maybe they want to get us to admit it directly to them before they take action," Giles added with his usual caution.

* * *

**Nicole Hobbes' hotel room**

After letting Giles and Oz in, Nicki gestured to the sofa in her suite and offered, "Please have a seat; can I get either of you something from the mini-bar?" Both politely declined.

"May I inquire why you asked to meet with Oz and myself privately?" Giles asked cautiously.

Nicki gave him a reassuring smile. She and Karen needed these men to trust them if they wanted the truth. "Well, partly because what I-- we need to talk about isn't really best discussed in public. The other reason is so that Ms. Summers doesn't find out about this conversation."

Intrigued by the friendly change in atmosphere, Giles almost smiled back. Only his years of training stopped him. "Why can't Buffy's mother know about it?"

"Because we are concerned that if she knew we were speaking to you personally, she would have both of us taken off Buffy's case. She doesn't seem to like you very much," Karen remarked. She guessed the feeling was pretty much mutual; he didn't like Ms. Summers either.

Giles made a noncommittal sound, knowing why Joyce didn't like him, but he wasn't willing to tell these women the reason – even if they already heard about their monster talk earlier. There was a big difference between knowing about the supernatural and knowing about the Slayer.

Deciding to bite the metaphorical bullet, Nicki blurted out, "Does it have anything to do with monsters and why Buffy ran away last spring?" When neither man said anything, she sighed heavily. "Look, you know we had people listening to you in the waiting room. We get the reason you would be hesitant about talking to us about it – especially since I am a psychiatrist."

The Watcher appreciated the woman's forthrightness. She had told them earlier she was a specialist, so there was no need for her to reveal her exact specialty unless she was being truthful. "If you know all that, why are you trying to get us to talk?"

Karen got a great idea. "Show him your scar, Nicki," she demanded eagerly.

The psychiatrist felt like smacking her head and proclaiming _'D'oh!'_ like her favorite Simpsons character. "Oh, that's right! I noticed that Buffy has one similar to it on her neck too."

That surprised both of the men. Giles – of course – was the one to inquire, "You've been bitten! How did you survive?"

"Could ask the same thing about Buffy," Nicki shot back, but without any antagonism. "I survived because somebody interrupted the vampire. Staked her before she could take too much."

"Was it a young girl who saved you?" Giles questioned, trying to think which Slayer that could have been. Surely, if it had been Buffy, the woman would have recognized her.

Nicki shook her head in confusion. "Uh, no. It was a young street hood." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Why would you ask something like that?"

Now Giles felt like hitting himself for his slip, although he wouldn't have understood the exclamation or the pop culture reference if anyone had mentioned Homer. He would have assumed it was in reference to the author of the epic Greek poems: the '_Iliad_' and the '_Odyssey_'. "Maybe later. So I take it this means you don't believe the 'mugging' explanation we gave the hospital."

"To be honest, my original suspicion was abuse. That's why I asked Dr. Hobbes – Nicki – to come check this out," Karen admitted. "If you don't mind, I'd rather keep this talk informal. Please call me Karen."

"And me, Nicki," the other woman chimed in.

Giles nodded, then pointed to his companion who just raised a finger when he was re-introduced. "Very well. This is Oz and the children call me Giles. Why did you suspect abuse, Karen?" the Watcher inquired, remembering to use her first name.

"All of you look like you had been in a fight that evening, and then there was the way Buffy reacted to the others when she woke up." The men were startled by the sudden anger in her eyes when she continued, "Unfortunately, when I filed a report with the police that first night, the detective was less than helpful. He even went so far as to say that if anyone wanted to press charges against _Buffy_, he would be more than happy to take their statement."

Chuckling mirthlessly, Giles replied, "Let me guess… Was it perhaps Detective Stein?"

Karen's head snapped up in shock. "How did you know?"

He sighed, tired of the troubles Buffy faced while trying to save the world. Interfering policemen being just one of them. "Anytime something happens and Buffy is nearby, he tries to pin it on her – ever since the Ted incident last year."

"Who's Ted?" Nicki interjected when Giles seemed to stop in mid-thought.

"Someone Buffy's mother was dating for a short time. Buffy didn't like him, but we all thought it was because she didn't like the idea of her mother with somebody who wasn't her father. The situation escalated to the point where they fought and Ted fell down the stairs, apparently dying in the process," Giles recited the story blandly. He felt a small amount of guilt for not trusting her instincts.

His word choice caught Karen's attention. "Apparently?"

And Nicki's as well. "Was he a vampire?" she questioned.

"No. If he had been, she simply would have staked him. No, Ted was a robot, designed by a brilliant – yet insane – engineer many years ago. Unfortunately, there was some faulty design or something. I'm not a technologically-minded person, so I couldn't explain it to you." Oz snickered softly and Giles glared at him.

Ignoring the werewolf now, Giles went on, "Anyway, this robot had a habit of courting women who reminded him of his first wife, then held them captive until they died. Ms. Summers was going the next one before Buffy stopped him. He even tried to come after her again. That time Buffy discovered what she was fighting and made sure to stop him for good. Meanwhile, the other children found Ted's 'home' and saw the literal bodies in the closet. So, the police had to rule Buffy's killing of Ted 'Self Defense' given the new evidence."

Going over it in her head, Karen was still confused. "That still doesn't explain why the Detective seems to hate Buffy so much."

Giles shrugged his shoulders. "To be quite frank, I don't understand it either."

Nicki wanted to get back to the matter at hand instead of speculating on a worthless excuse for a detective. "You seemed to indicate Buffy's injures weren't caused by humans?" she asked.

Guessing it couldn't make things any worse for Buffy, Giles explained the situation without mentioning Slayers or Watchers. That Buffy had gotten into a fight with a demon and was knocked out just as she killed it.

Nodding her head in understanding, Nicki prompted, "And something similar happened last spring to cause her to run?"

After sharing a look with Oz, Giles said, "Buffy was in love, and he turned into a monster. She had to kill him to save a lot of people. That, along with several other things that you must have been told, overwhelmed her and she needed time to recover."

Karen thought about his recounting of both instances, then asked the seemingly obvious question, "Why does _she_ fight these things? No offense to the rest of you, but by your own explanations, you seem to be indicating that Buffy does the majority of the fighting. You and the others sound more like back-up or something."

"Why are you so interested in knowing?" Giles demanded. He needed to know he could trust them with Buffy's secret. Not for the Council, but for Buffy. He wasn't going to let them turn her into a lab rat.

Smiling inwardly at the protective nature of this man, Nicki tried to explain, "Because the more I understand about Buffy's life, the better chance I have at helping her regain her memory. I believe Oz could be right about the reason she doesn't remember; something in her subconscious believes that she is safer – at least emotionally speaking – if she doesn't."

Oz had a good feeling about them. Granted, his record wasn't the greatest where Willow was concerned, but his opinions weren't clouded by any attraction this time. He already knew that Xander was possessive and Cordelia was shallow. So far, those judgments were right on. "I think you should tell them, Giles. For Buffy's sake," he added persuasively.

It must have worked, because Giles agreed. "Very well. Do you have Buffy's complete medical records?"

Caught off-guard by the abrupt change of subject, Karen replied, "Um, yeah. We looked them over this morning, but we didn't see anything unusual – aside from decreased hospital visits since shortly after her 15th birthday. Other than routine check-ups, she almost never went after that. We found only one other visit since she moved to Sunnydale, and that was last year when she was dangerously ill with the flu."

"Nothing about her mental history?" Giles questioned suspiciously. There should have been something there.

Nicki shook her head, "No. We certainly would have remembered seeing something like that. Are you saying Ms. Summers didn't give us access to everything?"

Giles stifled a growl. That woman had better hope she had noble reasons for hiding it. "She didn't. I'm not clear as to her motives for not telling you, but while they lived in LA, Joyce had her committed to a mental institution after Buffy burned down a school gymnasium."

His easy statement surprised Karen. "Why would Buffy do something like that?" she blurted out.

Smiling proudly and viciously, Giles answered, "Because it was full of vampires. Anyone who was still alive escaped first. When she tried to tell her mother the truth, Joyce had her locked up. After a couple weeks there, Buffy pretended to get better and claimed she knew it was her imagination. The doctors released her shortly afterward." His Slayer made the right choice given the numbers she faced – especially that soon after she was Called. She would have died if she tried to fight them all.

Now it was Oz's turn to be shocked. They had never talked about this before in the group. "When did Buffy tell you about this?"

Guessing what was going on the young man's mind, Giles explained, "That evening she came home, after the rest of you left. She wanted to explain to me why she was afraid to stay in Sunnydale. It wasn't just that her mother kicked her out; it was that Buffy feared Joyce would attempt to commit her again."

Worried about Ms. Summers and her actions where Buffy was concerned, Karen looked at her friend and said, "I think you were right about getting some other family members here to see Buffy, Nicki. It sounds like she needs somebody other than her mother."

* * *

A/N: Next…Calling all family. Crossover characters **finally **introduced! Sorry it took so long for them to show up.


	7. Chapter 7: Calling All Family

**Chapter 7: Calling All Family**

A/N:

Warning: I don't know; maybe language and innuendo somewhere along the way.

Thanks to my betas: nightshadowlife, AshDawnSoulmates, zigpal, ktweaver, AerynSpeedleCaine and TroyGuffey.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. CSI: Miami characters belong to Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn, Ann Donahue and CBS. Diagnosis Murder characters belong to Joyce Burditt and CBS. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

**Sunnydale**

Joyce Summers sat in her living room, fuming at the doctors in charge of Buffy's care. They had the nerve to tell her that she wasn't enough to help her daughter's 'amnesia'. Of course, if they could just understand that she was faking it, Joyce wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. Damn girl and her ability to twist people around her little finger!

Then she smirked. If Buffy wanted to play this game, Joyce would show her who was better at it. She knew the perfect relative to bring. Unless Buffy could instantly school her reactions, they would be able to see the pain in her eyes at seeing Calleigh again. It was always there in the past when the two blondes met face-to-face.

* * *

**Miami-Dade CSI Lab**

Ballistics Expert, Calleigh Duquesne was finishing up her daily reports when her cell phone chirped at her. She flipped it open without checking the caller ID. "This is Calleigh Duquesne speaking. How can I help you?" she said absently.

The voice made her blood turn cold. "This is your Aunt Joyce--"

Calleigh cut her off, worried about the tone she was hearing, "Hey, Aunt Joyce. What's wrong?"

"Buffy was hurt a few days ago and has amnesia now. I hate to ask, but the doctor seems to think that having family around may help trigger her memories. Could you come to California? Maybe talk to her about your times together?" Joyce mock-pleaded. She told her niece the truth; she really _didn't_ want to ask, but Calleigh was the only family she would allow near Buffy. Not that she had anything against her brother, but if he happened to show up drunk…well, that wouldn't look good.

"Of course," Calleigh quickly agreed. "But what about Uncle Hank or his family? Aren't they right there in LA?" she inquired, wondering why her aunt didn't mention the Sloanes visiting. Even if she still had problems with her ex-husband, there shouldn't be any reason for Mark and Steve not being with Buffy. Especially if the doctor was recommending close – emotionally – family members.

Joyce's voice turned angry, "I'm not going to allow that man anywhere near my baby. And we don't live in LA anymore. We've moved to Sunnydale to get away from him."

Stunned at the venom she was hearing, Calleigh knew that now wasn't the time to talk about it. But something didn't sound right to her. "Alright, Aunt Joyce. I'll talk to my boss, and get out there as soon as I can," she promised.

"Thank you. Call when you have your flight information and I'll be sure somebody meets you," Joyce replied before hanging up, leaving the younger blonde staring at her phone in concern.

* * *

**Horatio's office**

Horatio waved one of his favorite CSIs into his office when she knocked on his door. Then he saw the expression on her face, and gently inquired, "Calleigh, what's the matter?"

"My cousin in California was hurt, and I need to get out there right away," Calleigh blurted out, forgetting her professionalism for the moment. It was all she could do not to break out in tears. Her strange conversation with her aunt worried her more than she imagined.

He nodded understandingly, "That's fine. We'll get somebody to cover your cases. But that's not all that's bothering you, is it?" he prodded carefully. It broke his heart when any of his team was hurting. They were his family; the only family he had now that his brother, Ray, was dead. He wasn't even allowed to be part of his nephew's life.

Calleigh wasn't truly surprised by her boss' perceptiveness. It wasn't just because he was an investigator – although that probably helped. He was just a naturally caring person. "No. The doctor said Buffy needs family there, but my aunt is dead-set against letting my uncle or anyone from his side of the family to be with her."

"Did he abuse her?" Horatio asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Her answer was immediate and certain, "No! He adored Buffy, and she loved him. But it wasn't anything like you might be thinking," she quickly clarified. Then she confided, "I always thought Aunt Joyce was jealous of their closeness."

Aware that her description of the situation could still indicate abuse, Horatio pressed, "But you're sure there wasn't anything more to it?"

"Positive. Buffy would have said something to me. We were pretty close until a little bit before the divorce. Then we stopped talking," Calleigh replied sadly.

Horatio knew that he was like a broken record with this, but he had to be sure. "Could something have happened then?"

She shook her head, "I don't think so. But I'm worried about her."

Sitting down in the chair next to Calleigh, Horatio laid his hand on top of hers in support. "Alright. We'll figure it out," he promised.

His use of the plural caught her off-guard, though it shouldn't have. "We?"

He smiled warmly at her. "I was thinking you might like some company. Now, you said something about your uncle's family. Do you think they would be part of any abuse, if there was any?" he questioned.

Calleigh snorted, "Absolutely not! That's part of why I doubt Uncle Hank would do anything to her. If he did and they found out about it… I'm not sure there would be enough left of him for _us_ to process."

Horatio raised an eyebrow at that. "Pardon?"

Replaying her words, Calleigh chuckled at how it sounded. "Sorry. They're not like that. It's just that Steve is a cop and his dad is a doctor at LA General. They both have a severe thing about pedophiles." Her voice turned grim as she explained, "Steve's twin sister was raped and murdered when they were 14. If there was even the slightest _chance_ that Uncle Hank hurt Buffy like that--"

"I understand. Do you think that they could help Buffy?" he asked, not wanting to dwell on the vivid images that sprang to mind. Sometimes it really sucked to be a CSI.

Calleigh sighed, thinking it over for a second. "I don't know about Steve, but Mark was almost like a grandfather to Buffy. He loved her so much. He'd even take her on rounds with him until…" her voice broke with emotion and her eyes filled with tears.

Horatio gave her a tissue, then asked, "Calleigh? What's wrong?"

"Until my baby sister died in a hospital. After that, Buffy couldn't stand to be in them. She was with Celia when she died," she added when Horatio looked confused. Then she started crying in earnest.

"Oh, Calleigh, I'm so sorry," he murmured in her hair after pulling her into a comforting embrace.

Once she got herself under control again, Calleigh cleaned her face and gave him a weak smile. "Thank, Horatio. But I see your point about them being there. Even after my sister's death, Buffy was still close to Mark; she just couldn't go in a hospital again. And while Aunt Joyce might make a scene about Uncle Hank visiting, I don't think she'd dare try to keep Steve or Mark away."

* * *

**Dr. Mark Sloane's home**

"Hey, Dad! What's so urgent?" Steve called out when he raced in the door. His dad called him and told him to get home right away. Didn't really matter, since he was heading out the door when the phone rang.

Mark poked his head out of his room where he was packing. He motioned for Steve to follow him back in so he could continue. "I got a phone call from Calleigh in Florida."

Wow, that was a name Steve hadn't heard for a few years! "Calleigh? Isn't she Buffy's cousin? What did she want?" he asked, then saw the grave look on his dad's face. Something must have happened. To Joyce or Buffy, though?

"Something happened to Buffy," Mark confirmed his son's suspicions. "I didn't get all the details, but somehow she's lost her memory. The doctor treating her is hoping that having some family members visit would help restore it."

Steve shot him a look of pure disbelief. "And Joyce wants _us_ to come?"

Which made Mark chuckle. That would be unlikely. "Not exactly. She only called Calleigh. It was Calleigh's idea to call us. She thinks the more family, the better. Plus she hopes that Joyce won't cause a scene in front of the hospital staff."

"That's pretty optimistic of her," Steve remarked, then he grimaced. "But do you really think _Buffy_ would want to see any of her father's relatives? After all, Joyce managed to turn her against Hank," he added bitterly. It drove him nuts that his cousin lost his daughter because his ex-wife was selfish and didn't want to share.

Mark sighed and sat down on his bed. "You could be right. However, I can't stay away because she _might_ not want me there. I owe it to my nephew to try to repair whatever happened between them."

Putting a comforting hand on his dad's shoulder, Steve inquired, "Are we going to tell Hank?"

"I already have. While he agrees with Calleigh that his ex-wife might not fight _our_ presence, he can't say the same for his. We'll check the situation out and see if his visiting would be possible. That is, if you'd be willing to go," Mark tacked on as an afterthought. He knew Steve's feelings towards Joyce; his own weren't much different.

Steve glared, annoyed that the elder Sloane felt he had to ask. "Of course I'll go, Dad. Man, I was just trying to remember the last time I saw Buffy. It must be close to five years now," he said thoughtfully after a moment of quiet reflection.

Mark suddenly turned sad. "It's been almost three years for me as well. Every time I went to visit, she was off with one of those insufferable society girls whose mothers were friends of Joyce. I just can't see how a girl as bright as Buffy could stand their mindless chatter for long." Once they moved, it seemed like Buffy had kept that mentality in her new town. When he tried to call his great-niece, Joyce was always going on about the parties and activities Buffy was running off to. It seemed the young girl was never home.

"You forget that Joyce started her training very young about what was 'important' in life," Steve sneered. He was going for his cousin Hank and for Buffy. If he never had to lay eyes on Joyce again in this life it would be just fine with him.

But Mark shook his head regretfully. "That's the other thing I don't understand; Joyce had such talent and could have made such a mark in the art world."

"That's what being a slave to alcohol will do to a person," Steve pointed out bluntly. "It happened to her brother, too."

"I just hope it doesn't happen to Buffy. It would be much better if she could turn out to be like her cousin – either of them," he said with a significant look at his son. He meant it. If Buffy could turn out like Calleigh or Steve, that would be wonderful. "At least Joyce sounds like she cleaned up her act a bit. Enough to get custody anyway."

Ignoring the part about Joyce, Steve asked about the other cousin his dad seemed to be talking about, "So I take it that Calleigh is doing well in Miami?"

Mark smiled for the first time since hearing about Buffy. "She must be. From our conversation, it sounds like she is in charge of the day shift in the ballistics lab there. Growing up around guns turned out well for her."

"Yeah, can't tell you what a relief it was that she became a cop," Steve said with an audible sigh. "I was afraid it was going to be that or an arms dealer when I saw how fascinated she was with weapons."

"Bet she'll be happy to hear that," Mark chuckled.

Steve's eyes widened in alarm. "Don't you dare tell her! She'd beat the crap out of me."

Now Mark burst into full laughter. "Can't believe you're scared of her," he gasped out.

"You can't say you wouldn't be. She may be small, but that woman sends off serious danger signals," Steve defended himself, but he had a hint of a smile as well.

"Which means we should make sure that we help Buffy. If not for Buffy's sake then for our own welfare," Mark teased. The joking helped alleviate the worry he felt for the young lady he loved and missed so much.

* * *

A/N: Making a canon change to CSI: Miami. After his brother died, Horatio's sister-in-law took his nephew and left, not wanting to have anything to do with the Caine family anymore. Sorry to any Yelina lovers out there. And a canon change to Diagnosis Murder. From what I remember, Steve never had a twin sister who was raped and murdered at 14. I just wanted them to have something personal against pedophilia – aside from the usual disgust.

A/N2: Next…Interlude.


	8. Chapter 8: The New Girl

**Chapter 8: The New Girl**

A/N: Not sure if it's a canon change, but Slayers can't be turned in my 'verse.

Warning: I don't know; maybe language and innuendo somewhere along the way.

Thanks to my betas: nightshadowlife, AshDawnSoulmates, zigpal and ktweaver.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. CSI: Miami characters belong to Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn, Ann Donahue and CBS. Diagnosis Murder characters belong to Joyce Burditt and CBS. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

**Giles' apartment**

When Giles let his two visitors in, the older female, Diane Dormer, introduced everyone, "Rupert Giles, this is my Slayer, Faith Lehane. Faith, this is my friend and fellow Watcher, Rupert Giles – Mr. Giles to you."

Faith rolled her eyes at Diane's attempt to civilize her. You'd think she would know better by now. She looked around the apartment, obviously searching for something or someone in particular. "So, Watcher-guy, where's your Slayer? I want to see how she fights."

Despite the apparent disregard for authority, Giles smiled at the brash young girl; she had spirit. He hoped it would help her survive longer than Kendra had. "You may call me Giles; that's what Buffy does. She's not capable of fighting at the moment. That's why I requested you two to come to Sunnydale."

"Is it permanent?" Diane asked, referring to Buffy's condition.

Giles shrugged helplessly. "The doctors don't know. The physical damage has repaired itself, but they are unsure of the cause of her amnesia. Until she remembers being the Slayer, I cannot let her put herself in danger…even accidentally."

Hearing that the great Slayer had gotten hurt shook Faith, but she hid it behind her natural bravado. "That's harsh. How'd it happen?" she inquired, sprawling into an armchair bonelessly.

Not really wanting to re-live the encounter, Giles was quiet for several minutes. Only a sharp look from Diane kept Faith from talking. Finally he began to speak, barely above a whisper, "She was fighting what we thought was a demon at first, but when she finally took its head off, it dusted like a vampire. Unfortunately, its last blow knocked her headfirst into a mausoleum. We took her to the hospital as fast as we could."

Faith looked at her Watcher with alarm in her eyes. "You don't think it was--?"

Who nodded grimly. "Possibly." She turned to Giles. "We, Rupert? You had somebody else with you on your patrol with your Slayer?"

Ignoring the implied disapproval in the question, Giles explained, "It wasn't exactly a planned patrol, but yes, Buffy has-- or rather _had_ a small band of friends who helped her with her slaying on occasion. However, they usually were of more assistance to me with researching."

Diane wasn't sure which disturbed her more: the idea of involving civilian children or the fact he was speaking in the past tense. "We can talk about that later. For now, do you have a sketch of this beast? It sounds like something we encountered not too long ago."

He went to his Watchers' diaries and turned to the entry in question. He handed the book over to Diane. "Yes, here we go. This is the best I could do under the circumstances. It was actually quite therapeutic for me to work on this while we waited for news about Buffy's condition. Oz agrees that this is a good likeness of the creature. Is it who you thought it would be?"

"That's the bastard, alright. Glad my sister-Slayer got him; just wish it had been me," Faith answered venomously. She still had nightmares because of him.

Diane put her hand on Faith's shoulder to calm her, then took over the explanation, "He's a very old master vampire by the name of Kakistos. He had been hunting in our area for…oh, I'd say about a month and a half. The one time we got close enough to engage him, he almost sliced off my arm and stabbed Faith with her stake."

"How dreadful! What made him leave?" Giles asked. The scene sounded very familiar in a way; not the exact circumstances, but just the hair's breadth they always seemed to be from death.

His fellow Watcher shook her head unsurely. "We can only guess that he wanted to face Buffy. He made some comment about the Slayer getting out of hell and heading back to the Hellmouth." She clearly didn't understand the statement.

"He must've needed a bigger challenge than me," Faith said bitterly, feeling like a second-rate Slayer. The fact Buffy had been able to beat Kakistos where she hadn't didn't make her feel better, either.

But Giles wasn't willing to see it that way. "Or he wanted to take out the Slayer guarding the Hellmouth. I've lost track of how many vampires and demons want to make their reputation for killing the Hellmouth's Slayer. Diane has only good reports to tell me about your progress," he assured the brunette.

Faith finally looked up with a smirk. "So she's lying to ya, huh?"

Looking quite indignant, Diane replied, "I do nothing of the sort. He hears all about your discipline problems and outrageous habit of cussing like a sailor."

To Faith's surprise, Giles smiled warmly at her when he heard that. "It's the more spirited Slayers who are the most interesting. Kendra was picture-perfect copy of what a Council-trained Slayer should be. However, after spending a mere hour with the girl, all I could focus on was how much I pitied her for her lack of spirit I had come to expect from my time with Buffy."

"B sounds like my kinda girl. You sure I can't meet her?" Faith asked, refusing to accept the idea she was pouting at the moment. Girls like her didn't pout, dammit!

"Well, she isn't entirely herself at the moment, but maybe as long as you didn't mention anything slaying-related. Of course, we would need to convince the doctors and her mother that it's okay. Somehow, I think Ms. Summers will be the most troublesome of the group," Giles warned.

That surprised Diane. Apparently she had missed some things in her correspondence with Rupert. "She knows about her daughter's destiny?"

Taking no offense at Diane's tone, Giles nodded, "Buffy was forced to slay a vampire in front of her mother, then had to leave to save me. The confrontation between them was very unpleasant. Since then, Ms. Summers has been overtly hostile – or in the best times, ambivalent – about Buffy's duties. I highly doubt she would ever be supportive in this matter. Our best chance of introducing the two girls right now would be to circumvent Buffy's mother altogether. I'll see what excuse I can tell the doctors."

Diane felt she needed to clear some issues up before they went any further. "Faith, why don't you do a sweep of the town's cemeteries while I speak to Rupert?"

Not excited about getting between two Watchers fighting, Faith quickly agreed, "Sure. No prob. How many are there?"

Instead of telling her, Giles handed her a piece of paper. "Here's a map of the town; the cemeteries are marked – as well as a club called the 'Bronze' that the vampires sometimes go to in order to lure unsuspecting youths. If you want, I could call Oz to see if he can show you around."

"If you think that would be best. Just make sure he can protect himself or stay out of her way. She's not here to be a babysitter," Diane answered for her Slayer.

"Oz is quite capable – not only of knowing _how_ to help, but also _when_ to help," Giles promised them.

Once Faith had left, Diane turned to her old friend. "So tell me what is really going on around here, Rupert. I know there's a lot you've left out."

"This calls for the scotch; some parts are very ugly." He moved to the liquor cabinet to grab the bottle and two glasses.

**A short while later…**

"Angelus, the Scourge of Europe had a soul and was helping the Slayer?" Diane summarized, still stunned from all he told her about the past two years.

He took a sip of his drink, then remarked dryly, "Came as quite a shock to all of us."

She continued her summary, trying to work it out in her head, "They fell in love only to have it break the curse, thereby releasing the monster again."

Worried that she would jump to judgments about Buffy or him, Giles quickly interjected, "Now before you say anything--"

"That poor child!" Diane exclaimed over his words.

Giles blinked stupidly, clearly not expecting _that_ reaction. "What?"

Diane glared at him. "I'm not so old that I don't remember the first boy I loved. That's heartbreaking in the best of circumstances. For her to have to slay him… She sounds like a remarkable young woman."

"I've always thought so," Giles said, his voice thick with emotion." To be perfectly honest, I was concerned you would be upset at how long it took her," he admitted.

She shook her head vehemently. "Angelus wasn't an ordinary vampire. No less than five Slayers tried to take him out, and none of them had any _personal_ ties to him. For a monster like that to have intimate knowledge of how a specific Slayer thinks and what her weaknesses are… All I can say is that we are fortunate that Slayers can't be turned. Even better is that the vampires know that. I can't imagine what kind of damage he could do with a Slayer on his side." She shuddered at the possibility.

"Thank you for being so understanding." Then he realized the rest of her comments about Angelus. "How did you know about the Slayers that went after him? We didn't see anything about that in the books I have."

"I did my final dissertation on him. There are volumes that are not allowed out of Council Headquarters which contained the information," Diane explained. "What I'm more concerned with right now is Buffy's mother and her attitude towards slaying. The fact the woman had her daughter committed worries me."

Giles' eyes turned cold, almost Ripper-ish in his anger. "Me, too. Short of kidnapping Buffy, though, I don't see what recourse we have at the moment."

"There are ways. Ms. Summers is bound to have a few proverbial skeletons in her closet that we can use to _persuade_ her to see things our way," Diane stated calmly, a decidedly evil glint in her own eyes.

Chuckling softly, Giles refilled both their glasses, then sat back in his chair. "What a vicious little mind you have, Diane. I like that about you."

* * *

**Meanwhile, on the streets of Sunnydale…**

They were just making their way through the third cemetery when Faith finally broke the silence, "So B gets to have family and friends _and_ they all know about her being the Slayer? Gotta say, I'm kinda jealous. Or at least I would be if I had any family worth mentioning. What about these friends? Think I'll get along with them okay?"

Oz wasn't sure he wanted to subject Faith to the others in the group. "Only if you live up to their precise expectations."

She raised an eyebrow at the comment. "Whoa! Sensing a little hostility here. Have a falling out with them?"

"They let me know my place in the group. Not to mention, they are partially to blame for what happened to her," he replied, his anger very close to the surface.

Faith sat on the top of a headstone, then asked, "How's that?"

He leaned against another headstone, looking around for any danger. "They were all pissed off at her and not being shy about it. After taking it for a few minutes, she ran out of the house…unarmed. She probably would have been killed if Giles and I hadn't caught up with her in time."

"And the business of 'your place'? You don't look like a minority to me." She studied him closely. There was something about him, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Oz tensed for a moment, then figured she would find out about him eventually. Hopefully she wasn't a 'shoot first, ask questions later' kind of Slayer. "Just remember that Buffy and Giles already know this about me, 'k?"

Huh, this sounded interesting. "Sure. What are you…like half-demon or something?" Faith guessed.

"Or something. I'm a werewolf. When the full moon comes around, they lock me up so I can't hurt anyone," he explained, waiting carefully for her reaction.

Which wasn't the one he thought it would be. "And the others have a problem with that?" she asked in surprise. Diane had been very clear that as long as the werewolves in question weren't deliberately hurting people, they were on the not-to-slay list. It went against official Council policy, but Diane wasn't a strict company Watcher.

His expression turned sad. "I didn't use to think so. Turns out even my girlfriend is hesitant about accepting me completely."

Faith felt bad for him that his girl wasn't strong enough to accept his differences. It wasn't completely surprising, but it still had to hurt the guy. "That sucks. It's not like you had a choice, right?"

"Nope," he said with a shake of his head.

She shrugged her shoulders casually. "Their loss then, I say. From what I've heard about B, she's a kick-ass Slayer with an actual personality. You seem pretty cool too. If they have a problem with the two of you, I'm not sure I _want_ them to help me."

"They have their own version of events. Just warning you that they might say some pretty nasty stuff about Buffy. Take it with a grain of salt," he advised her.

"Can do. Obviously B can't tell me anything right now, so why don't you tell me your side so I have something to compare it to?" Faith asked, jumping off the headstone to resume their patrol.

Oz gave her a half smile, glad that she was willing to give Buffy and him the benefit of the doubt. "Can do."

* * *

**Buffy's hospital room**

Before he opened the door, Oz whispered to Faith, "Okay, the doctors are letting us sneak in to visit Buffy without her mom's permission, but we have to be quick about it."

"No prob. Just wanted a chance to meet the girl – even if I can't introduce myself the way I want to." Faith had this mental image of staking a vamp in front of Buffy, then saying she was Faith, the vampire Slayer. She shook her head to clear it, then followed Oz into the room. A small-looking blonde was sitting in the bed, a cap covering what she guessed was a shaved head.

Oz moved over to Buffy's side and smiled warmly at her. "Hey Buffy, this is a friend of mine, Faith Lehane. She just wanted to meet you."

"Hi, Faith." Buffy held out her hand towards the other girl, fighting the odd feeling coming over her.

Faith shook her hand and remarked easily, "Nice to meet ya, B."

"Oh my gosh, I'm gay! Or at least bi," Buffy said, almost to herself. She didn't count on the super-hearing of the other two in the room.

"Huh?" Faith managed to ask, almost laughing out loud at the exclamation.

Buffy bit her lip, worried she'd look like a complete idiot. On the other hand, she didn't really know these people for more than a few days, so what was the harm in being honest? "I get a weird feeling around Oz, and now you, too. Except the feeling is a little different with you." She whimpered softly, but kept talking, "Instead of a tingle like him, you feel like--"

Faith finished her statement for her, "A warm caress?"

"So you feel it too? Are you gay?" Buffy wasn't sure if she was relieved or more worried by Faith's understanding.

This time she couldn't stop herself from laughing; then Faith turned to Oz. "We gotta talk to G about this. Don't worry so much, B. This isn't about sexual attraction. Although, I bet you can be quite the hottie when you try," she teased.

The amnesiac Slayer only was able to say, "Thanks?"

Sensing her concern, Oz squeezed Buffy's hand, wanting to reassure her. "We'll be back soon, Buffy. Like Faith said, you don't have to worry. This is perfectly natural for you. If we can, we'll explain it to you later. Do you trust me?" he asked seriously, staring into her eyes.

She nodded slowly. "Of course. I'm not sure why I feel so strongly about that, but I do."

He smiled at her answer; it was actually more than he hoped for. "Then you know that I wouldn't do anything to hurt you or put you in harm's way. Neither would Giles. We'll straighten this out. Try to rest. Oh, and don't tell your mom we were here, 'k?"

"Alright." It wasn't as if Buffy really talked to her mom that much anyway. She just didn't feel comfortable around the woman.

* * *

A/N: Next…Meeting the family.


	9. Chapter 9: Surpise 'Family' Member

**Chapter 9: Surpise 'Family' Member **

A/N: I'm making a slight difference between werewolves that were born that way and ones that were bitten. The main difference being that hereditary wolves have a little more control during the full moon. The 'Family' comment in the title is about another werewolf, not any actual blood relationship.

Warning: I don't know; maybe language and innuendo somewhere along the way.

Thanks to my betas: nightshadowlife, AshDawnSoulmates, zigpal and ktweaver.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. CSI: Miami characters belong to Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn, Ann Donahue and CBS. Diagnosis Murder characters belong to Joyce Burditt and CBS. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

**

* * *

**

Buffy's hospital room

Buffy sat on her bed, still trying to make sense of what Giles told her the night before. Vampires and demons were real; Oz was a werewolf; she was a Slayer. When she asked what a Slayer was, he explained she was '…the one girl in all the world to fight the forces of evil' or something like that.

Except there wasn't just one girl anymore; both Buffy and Faith were Slayers. Something happened that Giles didn't want to explain, and the pain in his eyes made her not want to ask either. She wasn't sure she wanted to hear the story just yet.

The adults weren't even sure that they wanted to explain as much as they did about the supernatural. However, Faith pointed out that just because B didn't know about the demons, it didn't mean they didn't know about her. If they wanted her to survive, she'd need to know what to do to protect herself.

At least it explained the feelings she got around Oz and Faith, and for that reason alone, Buffy was grateful. Which was another reason the werewolf and other Slayer said she needed to know.

**

* * *

**

A couple days later…

Horatio watched Calleigh hesitate at the door to her cousin's hospital room. He placed his hand on her shoulder and gently asked, "Would you like me to go in with you, Calleigh?"

She gave him a grateful smile. "Please. I'm not sure if I'm hoping she remembers me or not." When he looked confused, Calleigh explained, "Seeing the pain in her eyes when she looks at me isn't pleasant."

"I'm here for you," he promised, squeezing her shoulder briefly. "Just remember that."

Bolstered by the moral support, Calleigh pushed on the door. "Thanks, Horatio. That means the world to me right now."

* * *

Buffy turned from the doctors to look at the couple who just walked into her room. The man had a watchfulness about him that was obvious to anyone who paid attention. However, the woman was the one who caught Buffy's attention. It wasn't the other woman's beauty that captivated her; Buffy felt fairly certain now she didn't swing that way – despite the feelings that being around Faith gave her.

No, it was the familiar look the woman was giving her; it was so full of agony that Buffy gasped in response. She didn't know who the blonde was, but she still wanted to ease the pain she saw in her eyes.

"Are you alright?" she asked before guessing what was bothering the woman, "Oh, I'm supposed to know you, aren't I? Are we friends or family?"

Calleigh fought the tears that threatened to spill. This was the Buffy she knew years ago – despite the memory issues. Even when Celia died, her little cousin was more worried about Calleigh and her dad than she was herself. "Both actually. At least that's the way I always felt," the older blonde explained with a sad smile and soft southern accent.

Deciding she liked this person, Buffy smiled back brightly and tried to reassure her, "Then I'm sure I did, too. Since you obviously know who I am, I just need _your_ names." She looked again at the man with her, liking the vibe she got from him too. Speaking of vibes, there was a little something extra going on with him that she needed to talk to him about privately. "Is this your boyfriend or husband? If so, nice choice!"

Horatio chuckled at the blatant flirtation. In spite of the words, he didn't feel she was trying to be sexual with him, just friendly. "Thank you, Miss Summers. My name is Horatio Caine; I work with your cousin, Calleigh Duquesne," he handled the introductions for them as Calleigh got a handle on her emotions.

Buffy nodded at the pair. "Nice to meet you. Are you okay, Calleigh? Can I call you that, or should I call you Ms. Duquesne?" she questioned.

"You can call me Calleigh. You used to call me Lee-Lee because when you were younger, you couldn't get my name right. As you got older, the name just stuck," Calleigh babbled, much to the shock of her friend and boss. He wasn't used to his CSI babbling, but supposed under the circumstances, it was understandable for her to be a little different.

"Would you prefer that I call you Lee-Lee?" Buffy continued when her cousin hesitated, "You just look so sad, and I don't want you to be. The doctors said I'm gonna be fine – except for the whole memory thing – and it's possible that it isn't permanent or anything."

"Whichever name you feel comfortable with is fine with me. I'm just glad that you're alive." Biting her lip, Calleigh moved towards Buffy and asked, "Can I give you a hug?"

"Sure, why not?" Buffy replied with a shrug. She liked that Calleigh asked first instead of just assuming – unlike some people. "After all, we're family. If family can't hug, who can?" she asked with forced cheer, especially since one of the people she didn't feel comfortable hugging was her own mother.

Calleigh swept her cousin up in a tight embrace, crying softly into her hair. "Oh, Shar! If there's anything I can do to help you, please just ask, okay?" she murmured.

"Umm, who's Shar? I haven't forgotten anything else, have I?" Buffy demanded with wide eyes as she pulled back to try to understand what Calleigh called her.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Calleigh apologized, "Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. 'Shar' is my pet name for you. It's from your favorite book when you were growing up: 'Charlotte's Web'. I even gave you a stuffed pig one year for your birthday. Imagine my surprise when you didn't call him Wilbur. You said that if you called him that, it meant the 'real' Wilbur was dead, so you named him Mr. Gordo instead."

Buffy arched an eyebrow at the explanation. "Sounds nice – if a little strange."

"I brought the book…in case you're interested in reading it again. Maybe it could spark a memory or something," Calleigh offered, not wanting to force the issue.

"I'm willing to try just about anything at this point," Buffy answered, nodding enthusiastically. "It's so frustrating not to be able to remember people or things about my life."

Calleigh gave her another, shorter hug and stood up. "Just hang in there. You have a lot of people who care about you and want to help you get better. Why don't you rest while I go talk to the doctors for a minute?"

"Okay," the younger blonde agreed. This would give her a chance to talk to Horatio about that vibe thing.

* * *

Once Calleigh was distracted by her conversation with the doctors about Buffy's status and treatment plan, Buffy gestured for Horatio to come closer. "Does my cousin know about your furry condition?" she whispered.

Horatio's eyes widened in shock. "How did you know-?"

Remembering Giles' admonition not to talk about being the Slayer when he explained the supernatural to her, Buffy replied vaguely, "I can sense these things. Don't worry, I'm not going to out you or anything. Apparently I have a friend who's a werewolf and I'm okay with it."

Impressed by the young woman's ability to roll with a pretty big punch, Horatio still needed to ask, "If you can't remember anything, how do you know about werewolves?"

"Like I said, I can sense people who are different like that. At first I thought it was just attraction…" Buffy started to explain.

"But now that you've met me, you know better?" Horatio interjected teasingly.

"Yeah right! As if _that_ would change my opinion!" Buffy replied, blushing when she realized how vehement that came out. "No, it's when my friend brought a girl to visit me who caused my senses to go flippy in a different way. I sorta, accidentally blurted out that I was gay or bisexual."

Unable to stop his chuckle, Horatio commented, "That must have caused quite a reaction."

"Just a little," she said with a roll of her eyes at the memory. "They told me there was a good reason for the way I felt, then had somebody come explain to me why I could sense the others."

"So this friend of your… Was he born a werewolf or was he bitten?" Horatio inquired, setting aside the mystery of her being able to sense them for the moment. Perhaps when she felt she could trust him, he'd learn the whole story.

Buffy shrugged her shoulders, "Not sure. Why? Does it make a difference?"

"I was born one, and have more control over the wolf. If necessary, I can stop the transformation," he explained.

"Hmm, he said that he locks himself up for those three nights-" she broke off as she realized something. "Wait, how did you know it was a he?" Buffy demanded in a worried tone.

"Because you said that you didn't worry about being gay until your friend brought a girl to visit. If your friend was a girl, you'd already have thought that," Horatio pointed out.

"Oh. Logic." Buffy gave him a bemused smile at her slip; she didn't want to put Oz in any jeopardy with somebody who could hurt him. "Guess that helps you with the police work, huh."

"At times," he teased. "So I'm guessing that your friend was bitten. If you'd like, you can tell him about me; maybe I can teach him some tricks to controlling himself a little. That way, he doesn't have to worry about getting out of his locks." Horatio figured there was a reason why she studiously kept from saying anything he could use to identify the boy – aside from her inadvertent remark about attraction.

"Really? Thanks. I'm sure he'll appreciate any help he can get. He seems kind of down about the whole thing," Buffy confided with a sad expression. "I think our friends have said something to him about being a monster; or maybe they didn't disagree with him when he said it. All I know is that they don't seem very close for being friends – even his girlfriend. Although, they've probably broken up by now. At least he's never around when they come to visit or vice versa," she babbled, relieved to be able to talk to somebody who understood and could maybe help.

"People fear what they don't understand; it's a sad fact of life," Horatio responded wisely.

Buffy's eyes narrowed angrily though. "Still, they said they were his friend. It shouldn't matter that he's a werewolf; it's not as if he had any say about it. It's like the way people used to treat people with leprosy. Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that being a werewolf is yucky like that, just-"

Knowing what she was trying to say, Horatio cut her off, "I understand, and you're right, it is similar to a disease or medical condition. It's good that he has you as a friend. It helps to have somebody who cares about you no matter what."

"Do you have anyone like that?" Buffy inquired, hoping that he did.

Horatio nodded, "Yes. Our ME – medical examiner – knows about me. Her name is Alexx Woods, and she's a tremendously help to me. I wouldn't put it past her to be looking into finding a cure for this."

"She sounds wonderful," Buffy remarked wistfully.

"She is," he answered with a gentle smile.

Buffy bit her lip shyly. "Do you think I could talk to her? I want to be sure that I'm doing everything I can to help my friend," she confided in the older werewolf.

"I think for now you should just concentrate on getting better, but…" he held up a hand when she looked like she was going to interrupt, "if you really want, I'll have her call you."

Giving him a grateful smile, Buffy said, "Thanks. For both of us."

Horatio took out one of his cards and wrote down the hotel information where he and Calleigh were staying while in Sunnydale. "If your friend is interested in talking to me, give him this and tell him to give me a call."

"Okay, I will. Oh, I'm supposed to warn you about not going out after dark around here." She hesitated, trying to think of the words she was supposed to use. "Umm, do you know about other supernatural things?"

For a second, Horatio was confused, then his expression turned to one of understanding. "Like vampires?"

"Whew! Yeah." That made things a lot easier for her to explain then. "Apparently there's a lot of them around here so you need to be extra careful."

He simply nodded, then inquired, "Just out of curiosity, how were you going to warn us if we didn't know about the supernatural? In case I have to use that excuse with Calleigh."

"They told me that the police around here blame all the deaths and missing people on gangs who use PCP," Buffy repeated the excuse given to her earlier.

Horatio's eyebrow raised in skepticism. "And that works?"

"I guess so. Maybe people don't really want to see the truth," she theorized.

He nodded again in understanding, "Another sad fact of life."

Just then, Calleigh came back over to re-join them. "Everything okay here?" she inquired.

Buffy smiled at her cousin. "Yup. Just getting to know your friend a little better."

Moving away from her bedside, Horatio added, "I'll leave you two alone so you can enjoy your book. If you need me, I'll be in the cafeteria. When I come back, did either of you want anything?"

"Some hot chocolate with marshmallows sounds great," Buffy requested shyly.

Calleigh smiled and nodded, "Make that two."

"You got it. Take care, ladies." Then Horatio left the room.

"He's nice." Buffy gave her a sly look and asked, "You sure there's nothing between you?"

"I'm sure. It would be too awkward at work. Plus, he's like a big brother, so…" Calleigh trailed off with a shrug.

"Understood! Too bad, though, 'cause he's a honey!" Buffy replied with a teasing leer towards the door.

Calleigh simply laughed and pulled out the book. Buffy slid over on the bed to make room, and after a moment's hesitation, Calleigh joined her, allowing her cousin to curl up next to her while she read. It caused a sharp pang in her chest because it was so similar to when they used to do the exact same thing years ago. She only wished that it meant Buffy remembered.

* * *

A/N: Just wanted to give everyone a head's up that the next several months are going to be very hectic for me, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to update any of my stories. I'm not abandoning anything, and if I get the chance to post, I will.

A/N2: Next…The Sloanes.


	10. Chapter 10: Scooby Interlude

**Chapter 10: Scooby Interlude**

A/N: Because people were wondering, here's an interlude to explain why the Scoobies are visiting Buffy. _Very_ short chapter. I'm just trying to kick-start Musie on the story again.

Warning: I don't know; maybe language and innuendo somewhere along the way.

Thanks to my betas: no need 'cause it's so short.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. CSI: Miami characters belong to Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn, Ann Donahue and CBS. Diagnosis Murder characters belong to Joyce Burditt and CBS. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

**

* * *

**

Interlude (before Buffy woke up)…

Cordy groaned as she got into her car with Willow and Xander. They were going back to the hospital yet again! And for what? Buffy 'I can't handle killing my psychopathic boyfriend before he kills half the town, and when I finally do, I run away, leaving my responsibility to people who will probably get killed doing it for me' Summers? Like she deserved their concern. After all, it was fairly obvious she was about to take off on them again, leaving all the slaying on their shoulders…_again_. "Why exactly are we going to visit Miss 'Slays When She Feels Like It'? It's not as if she even knows we're there."

"Because Giles is already ticked at us because of the fight Buffy started before she ran out-" Xander started to say.

"And once she wakes up and apologizes to us for everything, we can get back to normal," Willow cut in.

Xander glared mildly at Willow for the interruption, but kept talking as if she hadn't said anything, "…and Giles won't give us the key to the weapons cage unless we go along with this charade and show up at the hospital. You really want to walk around Sunnydale with no Slayer _and_ no cool weapons?"

"_Charade_? Pretty fancy word there, dweeb-boy," Cordy snarked. "I still don't see why it should be up to us to fight the vampires. Shouldn't Kendra's death have given us a new Slayer? Let's just get the Council to send _her_ here!" she complained. It wasn't as if this was _their_ sacred duty or anything. Buffy was the one with all the special abilities and everything.

Groaning at what she was about to say, Willow looked at Xander with a grimace. "Actually, as much as I hate to admit it, Cordy has a good point. I mean, we'd have to be careful about how we got the information about Buffy to the Council so that Giles doesn't figure out it was us…" she trailed off, scared of getting the Watcher mad at them again. "Until then, we'll have to stay close to Buffy, and convince her when she wakes up that we'll forgive her for taking off and not telling us."

When the others simply stared at her, Willow added, "Even if we haven't yet. It's not as if she'll know the difference."

"Whatever," Cordy scoffed. "I just hope the new Slayer does a better job of killing the monsters instead of falling in love with them."

"Here, here," agreed Xander from the passenger seat. "Where's Oz?" he asked belatedly, realizing he hadn't seen much of Willow's squeeze since Buffy went into the hospital.

Willow pouted at the mention of her boyfriend. "He said he'd meet us at the hospital. He's still angry about the other night. He wouldn't even listen to my side of the story." She bit her lower lip, then asked, "Do you think he's fallen for Buffy? Is that why he's sticking up for her?"

"Don't know," Xander replied with a shrug of his shoulders. It wasn't as if he could blame the guy; Buffy was hot.

"Would make sense," Cordy answered at the same time. "He's her type: part man/part monster," she explained in her usual tactless manner, not caring that Willow flinched at the description.

That unhappy thought set the mood for the group for the rest of the day. They all sighed in unison, resigned to having to sit at Buffy's beside for another fun-filled afternoon/evening (please note the sarcasm). Just so that Giles wouldn't glare at them when they wanted weapons for patrol.

* * *

A/N: Next…Miami meets LA.


	11. Chapter 11: The Cop and the Doctor

**Chapter 11: The Cop and the Doctor**

Warning: I don't know; maybe language and innuendo somewhere along the way.

Thanks to my betas: nightshadowlife, AshDawnSoulmates, zigpal, ktweaver and AerynSpeedleCaine.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. CSI: Miami characters belong to Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn, Ann Donahue and CBS. Diagnosis Murder characters belong to Joyce Burditt and CBS. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

**

* * *

**

Sloans' hotel

**A couple days later…**

As they waited for the all-clear from Calleigh to go visit Buffy, Mark finally broached the subject they had skillfully avoided the whole drive from LA, "So, Steve, are you ready to tell me what's bothering you yet?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Dad," Steve hedged. Yeah, he occasionally asked his dad to help on some cases, but he did that under duress; otherwise he'd like to keep him away from that part of his life.

Mark just shot his son a chastising look. "Yes, you do. It's been bothering you for a couple weeks now, so I'm assuming it's a case."

Sighing in resignation, Steve answered, "It's just loose ends…and some things I can't explain. But I've been assured by the victims that the threat has been eliminated."

"What worries you? That they may be lying to protect the criminal, or that they took justice into their own hands?" Mark offered two theories off the top of his head.

Steve shook his head, but not as a negative reply. "I'm not sure. They claimed to have been rescued by somebody else, but we've had no luck finding this mysterious hero. Then there's the DNA evidence that is all screwy. Captain says to just let it go, but-"

Mark interjected when Steve trailed off, "You don't like loose ends."

"Exactly," Steve said with a nod.

Laying his hand on the younger man's shoulder, Mark remarked, "If there's anything I can do to help, you know I'm always happy to."

"I know," Steve replied. Then he shook off his work worries for personal ones. "Right now our concern should be Buffy, though. So what have you learned about her condition?"

Mark proceeded to pass along the information that he got from Calleigh since he wasn't allowed to get the details directly from Buffy's doctors. He really hoped that the end run they were pulling on Joyce wouldn't blow up in their faces. It was only the knowledge that the doctors wanted as much family there as possible that strengthened Mark's resolve to see this through.

**

* * *

**

Hospital

Grateful that her aunt was stuck at the gallery with a shipment, Calleigh greeted her cousin's family warmly with her southern drawl and a hug, "Hey, there, Mark…Steve." She didn't care what Aunt Joyce said, the Sloans were good people. "This is my friend and colleague, Lt. Horatio Caine. Horatio, I'd like you to meet Dr. Mark Sloan and his son, Det. Steve Sloan."

"Actually, he's a lieutenant now," Mark proudly corrected the blonde. "Steve, why don't you go in to see Buffy first while I talk to her doctors?"

"Just remember not to force her to remember you; either she will or she won't. H? Do you mind staying with Steve? I'd like to go with Mark," Calleigh asked her friend.

Steve answered her warning, "Got it."

"You got it, sweetheart," Horatio answered right after the LA police officer.

Once the pair was alone, Steve asked, "Are you and Calleigh involved?" He was curious how they managed to work together and not get in trouble with the brass.

"What?" Horatio was bewildered for a moment, then shook his head, "Oh, no…it's just a term of endearment. Calleigh's more of a best friend to me."

Steve studied the redhead's face for any sign he was lying or in denial about his feelings, but didn't see anything. "That would explain why you'd come across the country with her."

Horatio sighed, glad he had somebody to talk to about his friend who wouldn't judge her. "She was pretty shaken up when her aunt called. Seems like she was pretty close to Buffy awhile ago."

"Yeah, same thing with my dad. I swear there were times he wanted to adopt her," Steve said with a fond chuckle. Then he added somberly, "With everything that happened, I wonder if it might have been better if he had."

"How about I take you to Buffy's room?" Horatio offered.

As they walked, Steve inquired about his cousin's health, "Is she doing okay?"

"Not sure what she was like before this, but from what I can tell…" Horatio began, "…other than her memory loss…and hair loss, she's doing better than anyone thought."

"Hair loss?" Steve hadn't heard that yet.

Horatio nodded and explained, "Because of the swelling, they had to shave her hair to operate and relieve the pressure."

Steve winced on his cousin's behalf. "Ouch. From the last memories I had of Buffy, I'm guessing that didn't go over too well with her."

"She didn't seem that upset about her hair when I met her, but that could have been because she had other things to worry about. The memory problem is confusing her in ways I can't even begin to imagine," Horatio said with his trademark concern. They stood in front of a room, and he gestured to it, saying, "This is her. I'll stay out here and watch for Calleigh's aunt."

Steve looked in through the window at the resting girl. Her eyes were closed, but there was something strangely familiar about her. It was like he had seen her recently; the problem was, he couldn't place where it had been. He pushed the door open quietly, but it still made her blink her eyes sleepily and turn towards him. It was the eyes that helped him figure it out. He quickly imagined her with blonde hair and almost gasped aloud.

"Hi. Do I know you? Oh, are you another one of those brain doctors coming to check in on me? Dr. Matthews said there'd be another doctor visiting me in the next couple days. I think his name was Sloan or something," Buffy babbled at the new person. He was looking at her oddly so it made her a little nervous.

Impressed with the doctor's plan to get his father in here under the guise of official business, Steve shook his head, "No. I'm your cousin, Steve."

Since they were the only family she met – other than her mother – Buffy guessed, "Oh, hey! Are you Calleigh's brother?"

"Other side of the family; I'm related to your dad," Steve corrected her.

Looking down for a minute, she thought about something that had been bothering her since she woke up. When she raised her eyes again, Steve saw unshed tears in them. "Could you tell me then why he hasn't come to see me? Is he dead? Doesn't he love me?" she asked one question right after another.

Not wanting to get in the middle of that fiasco with a girl who couldn't remember anything, Steve hesitated, then said diplomatically, "I'm not sure what happened between you two, but I know that he loves you very much. From what I was told, he wanted to come as soon as he heard you were hurt. The problem was, things have been strained between you for some time – I'm not sure why – so he thought it would be better to wait until you got your memory back and asked for him. Well, that, and there's some issues between him and your mom," he added, thinking that wouldn't cause any trouble to say.

Buffy definitely believed the last comment her cousin said; she herself was having problems with her mom. "Okay. I guess it wouldn't help to know why we were fighting, since I would have to take somebody else's word for it. But you're sure he loves me?" she inquired pleadingly.

His stomach clenched in pain from the hope he saw in her eyes. Steve went to her side and held her hand in a comforting gesture. "Enough to stay away if it's what's best for you. But he'll come if you want him to; that much I'm sure of," he promised, absolutely certain he was telling her the truth.

Hesitating because she wasn't sure what kept him away, Buffy finally said, "Maybe once I get used to all my other family. Can you give him a message for me, though?"

Steve nodded, "Anything."

"Tell him thanks. And if he's as decent as he sounds, I hope we can fix whatever went wrong," she said with a soft smile.

Hoping that it wasn't just the amnesia that made his cousin a sweet girl again, Steve smiled back at her. "That will make him very happy." He saw her try to stifle a yawn, so he leaned down to give her a kiss on the forehead goodbye. "Hey, you're looking pretty tired there. Why don't you get some rest, okay? We can talk later."

She nodded sleepily before drifting off again.

**

* * *

**

A half hour later…

Once they'd finished talking to the doctors, Calleigh and Horatio took Steve down to the cafeteria while Mark visited Buffy with the doctors.

Mark watched as the nurses took his great-niece's vitals; thankfully, they all seemed good to him. "Hello there; My name is Dr. Mark Sloan. How are you feeling today?" he questioned with his best bedside manner.

"Pretty good, I suppose," she answered with a shrug. "Met another relative and talked to him about my dad. Getting tired of not remembering anyone though. Do you guys have any clue about when I'll get my memory back?"

"There aren't any physical injuries that we can find which would explain the continued memory loss-" Mark started to explain after the other doctors gave him a nod to do so.

Buffy quickly put two and two together and came up with what she considered a logical answer. "So I don't want to remember? Is that what you're telling me?" she demanded of her newest doctor. She certainly seemed to have a lot of them, but she didn't know what was standard for somebody in her condition.

He didn't want to upset her, so Mark assured her that he didn't think it was intentional on her part, "I have no doubt that you consciously want to remember, Buffy. What makes more sense to me is that you've suffered some traumatic event and your subconscious wants to protect you from it a little bit longer."

"You mean like how I ended up with all those injuries in the first place? The 'mugging'?" Buffy asked, thinking it was odd that this attack should cause memory loss when she must have had other attacks that were as bad or worse – based on what Giles, Faith and Oz told her about being the Slayer.

Mark heard the quote marks in her last comment, but set aside his worry about that to answer, "Exactly."

Studying him more closely now, Buffy proclaimed, "You have that look in your eyes."

"What look is that?" he asked in confusion.

"The one like we should know each other. I've gotten kind of used to recognizing it the past few days," she explained when he started to ask her how she would know.

Another nod from the doctors and Mark confirmed her guess, "You're right. Remember meeting Steve earlier? He's my son."

Buffy remembered her cousin's face almost perfectly and compared it to the one in front of her. "Yeah, I can see it in your eyes and smile. We were close, weren't we?" she asked after a minute.

Startled by her perception, and hoping it meant her memory was coming back, he said, "We were. How can you tell?"

Her answer dashed his hopes though. "You look sad that I don't remember you – kinda like Calleigh. Steve seemed more shocked by my appearance than anything." Remembering that she needed an answer about her dad, she inquired, "Do you know why I don't talk to my dad anymore? Steve said he didn't."

Mark cringed; like his son, he didn't want to open that can of worms just yet. Instead, he tried to distract her by posing his own inquiry, "Can I ask you a question first? What was your mom's look when she found out you didn't remember her?"

"She was mad…or distrustful. Maybe both." Buffy thought about how to explain it, then said, "She and a few of my friends are either angry I don't remember them, or they think I'm faking it for some reason."

The thought made him sick to his stomach. How could they think that of her? "Really? Not all of your friends, I hope."

Smiling brightly at the memory of her time with two of her friends, Buffy replied, "No. Giles and Oz looked concerned. Giles' look was so caring that I thought he was my father. Apparently whatever caused the rift between me and my dad made me look for a substitute father-figure in Giles."

"Who's this Giles? Your mother's boyfriend?" Mark asked, not having heard of the man before.

That made Buffy actually chortle, "Uhh, _big_ no on that one. She hates him; that much I can tell. He's the librarian at the high school."

Mark was instantly suspicious of that. "And he just made friends with an underage girl?"

His tone told her what he was thinking, and Buffy held up her hand like a crossing guard. "Stop right there! I know where you're going with that idea, and he isn't like that! Yeah, it might seem odd that an older guy would be friends with teenagers, but it isn't always that he's a pedophile. From what Oz told me, Giles had a girlfriend last year, but she was murdered and her body was left in his apartment for him to find. She was a friend – sort of – of my group of friends, too."

"Alright. I'm sorry. My daughter was the target of a pedophile so I'm extra sensitive about that," Mark said to justify his concerns.

Her angry expression immediately turned soft. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. Giles is a good guy though. I don't think the doctors would let him visit me if they had any concerns about him," she said, glancing at the women in the room, who nodded at Mark.

"Speaking of your doctors, they said you wanted to go down to the gym for some physical therapy," Mark commented, wanting to check the man out before making his decision one way or the other.

Perking up at the idea of getting out of her room for a while, Buffy almost bounced in her bed like a small child with a stack of presents to open. "Yeah, I'm getting tired of laying around in this bed, so I'm hoping that exercising will help."

Smiling at her cheerful demeanor, Mark reminded her to take it easy, "Just remember not to overdo it, alright?"

"You got it…" Buffy trailed off, unsure of how to address him, "Umm, what should I call you? Dr. Sloan? Mark? Uncle Mark?"

"You used to call me Uncle Mark because I'm your father's uncle." Not wanting to pressure her, he suggested, "If you don't feel comfortable calling me that, you can call me anything you'd like."

Even though she couldn't remember what her bedroom looked like, she could recall a movie she watched as a child. He looked just like one of the characters so she asked teasingly, "You kind of remind me of that chimneysweep guy from _'Mary Poppins'_. Can I call you Bert? Just kidding, Uncle Mark. Couldn't help myself," she giggled.

Mark chuckled as he left the room, pleased that her sense of humor was still good. When she was younger, she had called him Rob Petrie after seeing an old show from the 60s called 'The Dick Van Dyke Show'. Even better, she decided to call him Uncle Mark. Without even realizing it, he started humming/singing _''_ softly as he made his way to the cafeteria.

* * *

A/N: How does Steve know Buffy? Will Mark answer Buffy's question about Hank? At least one of these questions will be answered in the next chapter.

A/N: Next…The families unite.


	12. Chapter 12: Mommy Dearest

**Chapter 12: Mommy Dearest**

A/N: There's an explanation for why Joyce is the way she is at the end of the chapter. It is not necessarily there to excuse her, but to say why she's over the top horrible to Buffy and others in this story.

Warning: nothing much until the very end. Well, maybe a small warning that this is very anti-Joyce.

Thanks to my betas: nightshadowlife and AerynSpeedleCaine. Sorry to the others, I couldn't wait.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. CSI: Miami characters belong to Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn, Ann Donahue and CBS. Diagnosis Murder characters belong to Joyce Burditt and CBS. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

**Hospital cafeteria**

Steve waited until the table next to theirs cleared out before he began talking, "We may have a problem, guys." Unfolding the sketch from his pocket, he passed it around, then asked Calleigh, "Did Joyce say anything about Buffy being in LA this summer?"

"No," Calleigh answered, shaking her head. "In fact she told me that Hank said he was 'too busy' to take care of Buffy. She was so upset that she ran away. Why do you have a _police_ sketch of her?" she asked while she waved the paper at him.

At the same time, Mark replied as well, "And Hank told me that Joyce said Buffy was in some kind of club and couldn't make it to LA. He said _nothing_ about her running away; my guess is that he doesn't even know. Does this have anything to do with that case that was bothering you earlier?"

"Yeah, Dad," Steve answered his father's question first. Then he explained to the other three about the rash of missing teens; the homeless people who kept muttering _'I'm no one'_; and the shelter in the middle of it all. "This sketch – which I assume that we all agree is Buffy? – is the only thing I got from the victims about their mysterious hero. They won't say where they were being held or by whom, or _how_ she managed to save them. All we know is that the man who ran the shelter, Ken Montgomery, went missing at the same time."

"Do you think this might have something to do with Buffy's memory loss? Maybe she had to hurt that guy to save those people and she felt guilty about it. When she hit her head, it gave her subconscious a perfect opportunity to bury the memory," Horatio theorized.

Mark shook his head, "It's possible, but I don't think so. If that was the only thing she blocked out, you'd have a point. Total amnesia like this indicates that she needed to forget so much of her life that she lost everything."

The bigger issue in Mark's mind, though, was that Buffy had been missing for who knows how long and Joyce kept lying to Hank about it. Excusing himself, he went to call his nephew and suggest that he get to Sunnydale immediately. Hopefully somebody could find out what the hell had happened over the summer.

* * *

When they went back to Buffy's room an hour later, the foursome was surprised to see an orderly stripping her bed. Surprise turned to concern when Mark noticed that her name was missing from the plate next to the door.

"Where's my cousin?" Calleigh demanded.

The orderly shrugged and replied, "Not sure. I was just told to come and clean the room. I'm guessing she must have checked out, though."

Seeing the upset people headed her way, the nurse running the station held up her hand. "Before you say anything, the Chief of Staff himself signed her out at her mother's request. Then he dragged her doctors into his office for a 'talk'. That's all I can tell you," she finished, pointing down a hallway.

"Thank you, Nurse Bennett," Mark said with a grateful smile.

They walked down the hallway she indicated and when they heard a raised voice, they stopped to listen. Sure enough, it was the Chief of Staff's office.

"What were you thinking?" he yelled. "You can't allow a minor any visitors that her guardian hasn't approved of!"

Wanting to help the doctors who were trying to help his grandniece, Mark knocked on the door and stuck his head inside. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear your last comment. Just so you know, I didn't tell Drs. Matthews and Hobbes that I was related to Buffy. All I said was that her family requested that I check in on her condition…and that is true; her father, Hank Summers, asked me." What he said was technically true; Calleigh had been the one to introduce him as Buffy's great-uncle, not him.

"Dr. Sloan is a respected doctor at LA Community General Hospital. I knew that Miss Summers and her mother were originally from that area, so it made sense to me that he probably knew them there. And we never left him alone in the room with her, sir," Dr. Matthews assured him, grateful to Mark for the assist.

"Well, I suppose it could be a simple misunderstanding on your part, doctors," the Chief of Staff allowed before turning to the visiting doctor. "…however, Dr. Sloan must have known that his presence could cause trouble."

"Actually, I was hoping that my presence would be considered a nice compromise for Joyce. She shares custody with my nephew, Hank, and he has a right to know about Buffy's treatment too – especially since she's covered under _his_ insurance," Mark explained. "The divorce turned very ugly when it came to Buffy, so rather than cause a scene by coming himself, Hank asked me to look in on her…hoping that Joyce would be reasonable about it." His anger boiled over a little and he added with a hint of irritation, "Apparently he overestimated his ex-wife's maturity level."

The Chief of Staff sighed, remembering the furious harpy who threatened to sue the hospital for allowing _'that man'_ into her daughter's room without consulting her. As it was, he'd have to check with the lawyers to see if he needed to discipline the doctors for that action. It sure seemed a waste for something that was most likely a misunderstanding. And Dr. Sloan was right; assuming they shared custody, Hank Summers had just as much right as Joyce Summers when it came to matters of Buffy's treatment.

Unfortunately, they needed the hospital bed anyway, so keeping somebody who was physically fine was out of the question. It was the general consensus of the doctors involved that the patient's memory loss wasn't physical in nature. The question was, would a psychiatrist be able to help unlock her memories? And why would she be blocking them in the first place?

Thankfully, he doubted that an angry mother would stop Dr. Matthews or her colleague from insuring the young lady got all the help she needed – even if they had to go over Joyce Summers' head to do it.

"Very well, you're dismissed for now. I'll let you know if the hospital lawyers say there's anything else we need to do to stay out of trouble with Ms. Summers."

* * *

**Summers house**

If there was any doubt in Buffy's mind that she didn't want to live with her mother, it vanished the moment they got into the house. The ride 'home' had been tense and silent. Buffy spent the time surreptitiously watching Joyce grip the steering wheel as if she was trying to choke it. Obviously the older woman was upset about something but wasn't saying why.

Apparently that was because she wanted to be in private before fighting with her daughter.

The front door barely closed when Joyce started screaming at Buffy about being a lying, conniving brat. Her proof of that was Mark Sloan's presence in the hospital.

"I saw him in your room, and you two looked very comfortable with each other for supposed strangers, Buffy! Give up the act and quit being a spoiled brat!" Joyce screamed.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Mother," Buffy began, using the formal term instead of 'Mom' because she couldn't picture this woman as a tender, caring person her mind told her that a mom would be. If there was a more distant term than mother, she'd use that. Heck, she was close to calling her Joyce or Ms. Summers. "I can't speak for Dr. Mark, but for me, I was comfortable with him because he was kind to me."

That remark made Joyce fly into a rage. For half an hour, Buffy had to listen to all the things she had ever done that caused her mother grief, embarrassment, pain…going all the way back to when Joyce was pregnant with her. Some of the stuff she couldn't even understand how it was her fault. For example, what did she have to do with Joyce cutting ties with her Uncle Donald and that part of her family?

* * *

What she couldn't know was that her mother had one or more personality disorders that had never been diagnosed. From the time Joyce's mother died – when Joyce was 10 – she had steadily grown more and more manipulative and narcissistic. Darlene, her older sister, had tried caring for her, but being a 15 year old herself, she wasn't equipped to be a mother-figure. Especially to somebody like Joyce.

Joyce grew jealous of anyone who gained her daddy's attention, driving more than one potential stepmother away. When Edward Mallard managed to get married – with Darlene's encouragement – after Joyce graduated high school and went to college, she cut him out of her life for a whole year before dragging Hank Summers home to announce her engagement.

Within three years, she became pregnant and basked in the praise of how beautiful she looked and how dedicated she must be to finish college at the same time. She was daddy's princess again, so life was perfect.

Then Buffy was born.

Whenever she was sick, Buffy ruined Joyce's life with her crying and throwing up and other unpleasant things. Hank helped out as much as he could, but it was important that Joyce appear to be the doting mother to get more sympathy and love from her father.

What was worse was when Buffy wasn't sick, though.

Hank fell in love with his daughter from the second she was born and kept asking Joyce when they could try for another child. He didn't know that after she had recovered, Joyce had her tubes tied, claiming that she had complications which required another surgery. She let him continue to think she _could_ get pregnant, however, so he wouldn't consider divorcing her or trying to adopt.

Joyce's father was almost as bad with Buffy…and that was the final straw for her. Buffy wasn't supposed to take her place in Edward's heart. If he hadn't died from a heart attack the next year, who knows what would have happened. Since he did, Joyce used his death as the excuse she needed to cut that part of the family out of her life. She blamed his new wife, Karen, for his death and refused to listen to anyone who tried to defend her. The only one not completely dismissed was her brother, Duke…Calleigh's father. Basically because he was too consumed with his work most of the time to worry about one way or the other. After Celia died, he dove into the bottle and barely resurfaced.

From that point on, she decided to train Buffy to be the perfect society daughter. If she was lucky, Buffy would get married right out of high school and be out of the way so Joyce could have all of Hank's attention again.

But of course Buffy had to go and screw up that plan as well by becoming the Slayer.

Never mind the fact that Hank was starting to grow tired of his wife's manipulations and insistence that they be something they weren't. He enjoyed his job as an engineer and didn't want to become management. The mental institution was the breaking point for him. Joyce insisted on inpatient treatment while he thought it was more important to try outpatient so Buffy knew that they loved her no matter what.

If it hadn't been for that man-hating, feminist judge who awarded custody to Joyce, Hank would have kept Buffy with him in LA and sent her to private school if all the public schools wouldn't let her in. Enough money would open the right doors somewhere – especially since there was no proof that Buffy started the fire.

Maybe it was wrong of him, but Hank refused to be Joyce's sole support. She would have to work if she wanted anything more than a two-bedroom apartment. The money for Buffy's expenses was handled by a trust which Joyce didn't have direct access to. Hank took Buffy shopping for clothes and school supplies when she came to visit him. A small amount of child support went directly to Joyce to cover day-to-day expenses like groceries.

Unfortunately for him, Joyce used his plans against him by telling Buffy a different story about why they couldn't afford this or that. Even though Buffy was a daddy's girl, she couldn't stand up to her mother's influence for long – especially after being in the mental institution. Joyce was her guardian by then, so Buffy saw her mother as her rescuer from that place…despite the fact Joyce was the one who put her in there. Not that Buffy knew which parent was responsible; she assumed it was a joint decision.

* * *

Buffy made a mistake with her choice of words when she replied, "If you hate me so much, why didn't you let my dad have custody, Joyce?" Part of her error was 'requesting' to go to Hank, but the big part was calling the woman Joyce.

Slapping Buffy as hard as she could, Joyce shrieked, "You horrible, selfish, rotten girl! Just for that, I should let you go look for your _real_ father! I'm not sure what his name is, but you can start looking at the bar where I picked him up about 18 years ago. Hank said he had to work on my _birthday_ of all days – like he couldn't get somebody else to handle it – so I decided that I would celebrate on my own. I think it was Mac, Jack, Zack…something like that. Ahh, I _should've_ just gotten rid of you when I found out I was pregnant. Foolishly, I thought having you would make life better, not worse."

"You cheated on your husband?" Buffy asked, horrified that she was related to this woman at all. "You are a selfish, miserable woman!"

Joyce reached back to slap Buffy again, but found her hand caught in a vise-like grip.

"I couldn't agree more," a man's voice said coldly.

* * *

A/N: Next…The beginning of the end for Joyce and the Scoobies in Buffy's life.

Disclaimer: Not sure if you noticed the mention or not, but I don't own Ducky or NCIS.


	13. Chapter 13: A Matter of Custody

**Chapter 13: A Matter of Custody**

A/N: An early b-day prezzie for one of my best betas, AshDawnSoulmates.

Warning: If you haven't got it yet, I'm not sure you deserve the warning this isn't Scooby or Joyce friendly, but I'll tell you again anyway.

Thanks to my betas: nightshadowlife, AshDawnSoulmates, zigpal, and AerynSpeedleCaine.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. CSI: Miami characters belong to Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn, Ann Donahue and CBS. Diagnosis Murder characters belong to Joyce Burditt and CBS. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

**Bronze**

As they entered the teen hangout, Oz looked at Faith and inquired, "You sure about this?"

"It'll happen sooner or later, right?" she replied with a shrug.

Nodding his head, he confirmed, "Probably."

"Then why put it off? If they're cool, then I'm 5 by 5 with them," Faith said, somehow doubting that would be the case – based on his feelings and the fact she could see the uneasiness in her sister-Slayer's eyes whenever these 'Scoobies' were mentioned. "If they aren't, then I should take care of it right away and not spend a lot of time dreading it."

Oz nodded again and led her over to the couch where the trio was sitting. "Guys, this is Faith; she's the new Slayer," he said by way of introduction.

"Why did you meet her before us?" Willow demanded with a hurt look in her eyes. "Xander and I were the original Scoobies, not you," she added poutingly.

Forcing himself not to roll his eyes or grit his teeth at Willow's childishness, Oz replied easily, "I was with Giles when she showed up."

Faith did roll her eyes and asked, "What's the big? So he met me before you; didn't think it was a contest or something."

"Enough of that," Xander said, waving his hand dismissively. There was a new Slayer in town and she was even sexier than the last two. It was like a Pavlovian reflex with him to start fawning over her. "Do you have any exciting Slayer stories to share?" he asked, practically panting at her feet.

Faith spent the next half hour telling whatever stories she could think of. At the same time, she would try to ask for stories about B, but they would change the subject.

Between Xander's drooling, Cordy's sneering and Willow's clumsy attempts to befriend her, Faith's patience quickly dwindled to nothing. Granted, Willow was the least offensive of the bunch. Still, she desperately needed to go pound on some evil before she started in on these three.

"Gotta go kill some bad guys," Faith finally said in an attempt to escape.

Willow dashed that hope when she exclaimed, "We'll come with you!"

"Why? Isn't that her job?" Cordy demanded, looking very unhappy at the idea of going out to fight vampires now that there was a new Slayer around. If they were meant to be vampire killers, they would have Slayer powers too.

Xander looked at his girlfriend with a slight expression of disapproval. "We helped Buffy; it's only right to help Faith." Besides, how else would they have personal protection if they weren't tight buds with the Slayer?

"_Please_! You only want to drool some more," Cordy snarked, annoyed with Xander's transparency. At least when he obsessed over Buffy and Willow, she knew there was nothing to worry about; Buffy made it clear she wasn't interested, and Willow was like a sister to him. However, this Faith girl oozed sex appeal and who knows what her stance on boyfriend-stealing was.

Faith looked at Oz for help. "Umm…oh, my Watcher doesn't want anyone going with me unless she checks them out first. Oz can come because she already okay'd him when we met," she explained, feeling proud of herself for coming up with the lie on the spot. Well, sort of a lie. D probably wouldn't like her dragging around these three, and it was only because of Giles that she was cool with Oz going on patrol.

The teen werewolf was also proud of the quick story-telling ability of the new girl. "That's right," Oz said, managing to appear sorry about it…maybe. It was hard to tell how he felt most of the time. The fact he felt smug about being the only one allowed told him that his relationship with Willow wasn't what it should be. He'd have to break up with her when they had a moment of privacy.

Willow still looked determined to follow, but felt something…almost foreboding about doing so. It wasn't that Oz was drooling over Faith like Xander was, but there was a shared something between them. Rather than face it right away, she decided to wait until she could define what that something was. "Oh…Then we should meet your Watcher so we can help you," she finally said.

Inwardly breathing a huge sigh of relief, Faith practically ran for the door after she responded with, "Sure. I'll call you."

* * *

**Outside**

"We need to think of a way to have D say no to them," Faith pleaded as soon as they got out of the doors. "I'll use them as bait if they go out with me."

They headed to the nearest cemetery to start their search for the undead. After a few minutes, Oz came up with an idea, "Maybe use my status as a werewolf as a reason. I have better senses than them." He pointed at his nose and then in a direction where two demons were breaking into a crypt.

"Perfect!" Faith exclaimed, both for the idea and for his practical application of it.

As they patrolled, they found a distinct lack of vampires. It was a little unnerving, so they went to Willy's to beat- er, _get_ some info from him. Turns out they were planning a group attack across town.

* * *

**Summers house**

**Meanwhile…**

Buffy looked at the angry man, backing away a little out of concern. How did he get into their home? Joyce said they lived alone. Then she saw Calleigh behind him, and ran to her cousin – one of the only people she felt safe with anymore.

Having caught the flash of fear in Buffy's face, the man called over his shoulder, "Uncle Mark, could you and Calleigh take Buffy out to the car while I talk to Joyce? She doesn't need to hear some of the things I might say to my ex-wife."

As soon as the door closed, he hissed at Joyce, "You hid the fact that Buffy ran away last summer? Did you even call the police to have them look for her?"

"She was wanted for murder, Hank!" Joyce snapped back, angry at whoever called him. "Asking for their help to find her would have been the same as locking her up in jail…which may not be such a bad idea after all. If it wouldn't be so embarrassing to explain to people."

Hank fought the urge to throttle his ex when he heard that last bit. Joyce was seriously more concerned about her reputation than her child's safety? "Then you should have told me _that_! We're lucky she came back safe and sound!" he yelled.

"You mean, _I_ am lucky…Or didn't you hear what I told her?" Joyce smiled nastily as she gave him the news, "I found out last year when she was in the hospital with the flu. She doesn't have my blood type or yours, Hank. Guess what that means."

"I don't care. She's my daughter even if a hundred doctors and lawyers tell me otherwise," Hank declared. He once again cursed that judge who gave custody to this…shrew of a woman. He might stand a better chance this time – assuming they didn't end up in front of the same one. "And I would be willing to bet that since I've been paying child support – even _after_ you supposedly found proof she's not my biological daughter – that I have a little say in her custody."

He could see the wheels turning in her head about how she could work this to her advantage and held up a hand to stop her, "Before you start thinking about how to discredit me, keep this in mind: I have four witnesses that will testify that you were about to slap Buffy just after she was released from the hospital with a head injury…among other things."

Glad to see the gloves had finally come off, Steve almost gleefully added, "And the fact that three of us are police officers should carry a lot of weight with the judge."

Horatio knew that Hank and the Sloans could be written off as a vengeful father, but he and Calleigh were another story. He pointed that out to Joyce a bit more calmly than he felt, "If that's not enough, having your own niece testify against you will hurt your image of a 'loving mother'."

To their shock, Joyce just started to laugh at their threats. "You think that getting her is something to be happy about? You're welcome to her _and_ her freakishness! Just don't think you can dump her back on me when you find out the truth." She turned around to walk to the liquor cabinet, and made herself a drink.

Horrified at what he was hearing, Hank asked, "Did I ever even know the real you? The Joycie I fell in love with would never be so hateful – especially to her own daughter."

"Just get her crap out of my house. The weirdness that follows her has caused enough damage to my life and house already," Joyce snapped between sips of vodka, pointing to the boarded windows in her living room.

"We'll be back in the morning with some boxes to pack Buffy's things," Hank said, shaking his head in disbelief. Maybe her brain – and heart – had been pickled by the liquor.

Joyce filled her glass again, dismissing the three men by turning her back on them again. "My assistant will be here to supervise you."

* * *

**Outside**

"What was that 'freak' business about? You didn't seem surprised by it, Hank," Mark commented. He had the feeling that when Hank explained, he would finally learn the truth about Buffy's stay in a mental hospital before she and Joyce moved to Sunnydale.

Hank saw his daughter – DNA tests be damned – cuddled up with her cousin, soaking in the comfort the older blonde was providing. He shook his head and said, "Let's wait until we're back at the hotel and Buffy's in a different room, 'k?"

* * *

**Outside the hotel**

The three cars pulled into the parking lot and the group started walking to the front doors, discussing the sleeping arrangements for the evening. Obviously the girls would bunk together, and the men would split up between the other two rooms however they felt most comfortable.

Turned out that Mark insisted that Hank stay with him so they could talk about Buffy some more. Which was fine for Steve and Horatio; it would give them a chance to talk shop – and a little about Buffy as well. Or at least Steve's case that involved Buffy.

A few feet away from the door, Horatio suddenly stiffened and pulled Calleigh to his side – which also brought Buffy since they were still semi-cuddled with each other. _**'Oh damn!'**_he thought, wishing for a weapon of some kind that could actually be of some use to him.

Seconds later, a gang of vampires stepped in front of them, grinning evilly with their fangs out. They were still mostly in the shadows, so the only one that could see their faces was the werewolf in the group. Actually, that wasn't entirely accurate; Buffy could see them too.

Horatio saw a branch on the ground and bent down to pick it up.

"Oh look, our food wants to disagree with us," the leader snarked. "Let's save him for last."

Before anyone could be grabbed, two arrows shot past the bewildered group and pierced the hearts of two of their would-be attackers.

"Hey, B! Catch!" the brunette called out. She threw something at Buffy, and without even looking, Buffy caught it and swung her hand at the vampire who came at her.

Mark, Hank, Steve, Calleigh and Buffy stared at the falling particles while the fight continued around them. Their five voices spoke almost in unison, "What the hell?"

* * *

A/N: I was a little caught off-guard writing this chapter because I was sort of planning some blackmail or something to get Joyce to give up custody. Then I realized that if she wants the perfect life, she wouldn't fight to keep such a troublesome child. In her mind, Buffy screwed up too much to be forgiven and taken back. Especially if Buffy wasn't going to give up that Slayer nonsense.

A/N2: Next…Time for more explanations.


	14. Chapter 14: A New Direction in Life

**Chapter 14: A New Direction in Life**

A/N: Buffy's almost done with Sunnydale!

Warning: none that I can think of.

Thanks to my betas: nightshadowlife, ktweaver and AerynSpeedleCaine.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. CSI: Miami characters belong to Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn, Ann Donahue and CBS. Diagnosis Murder characters belong to Joyce Burditt and CBS. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

**Outside a hotel**

A second later, Buffy added enthusiastically, "That is so cool! I mean, you told me about vampires and that I was some kind of hero, but wow! It's totally different to _see_ it!"

"Can you get excited _after_ we dust these creeps?" Faith bit out while she ducked a punch. She was actually amused at the blonde Slayer's attitude, but now wasn't the time.

Buffy blushed in embarrassment. "Oops, okay."

Oz moved in front of the remaining 'civilians' to protect them with his modified supersoaker. Instead of a single stream, it sprayed a steady mist of holy water at the vampires. Meanwhile, Buffy remembered the items in her purse that Giles gave her to protect herself in the hospital. She handed the stakes, crosses and holy water to her family.

Nodding his thanks to his friend, Oz played the role of informant to the others. "Use the crosses and holy water to keep them away, but if you need to, the stake goes through the heart with as much force as you can manage."

Fortunately, the civilians didn't have to lift a finger because Faith and Horatio did a commendable job protecting them. Buffy stumbled over what to do a couple times, but when a vampire got too close to her neck, the Slayer within her took over, killing her enemies with frightening efficiency.

Mark blinked in amazement at the action. Turning to his nephew, he asked, "Does this have anything to do with that freakishness Joyce was complaining about earlier?"

An equally stunned Hank stuttered, "Yes, but having seen it firsthand, I'll have to revise my previous thoughts on the subject. I thought she was delusional or something. Why didn't I let her try to prove it to me?" he asked, berating himself.

"I wouldn't be so hard on yourself, cuz," Steve cut in before Hank's thoughts could get too harsh. "If this is any indication of what she was dealing with, it wouldn't have been a good idea for her to try and prove it. Chances are you would have ended up dead."

"Or worse," Oz added over his shoulder. At their blank looks, he explained, "A vamp could have turned you, then Buffy would have to kill a vamp with the face of somebody she loved." He didn't mention that Buffy had to do that a few months earlier.

Several more minutes of fighting and all the vamps were dusted. Without an enemy to worry about, the group stood there, staring at each other, wondering what came next. Finally Horatio took charge and said in a commanding voice, "We should get inside where it's safer. Then we can worry about explanations."

Despite it going against his character, Oz couldn't stop himself from teasing Buffy, "Even without your memory, you still can't keep your secret identity for very long."

Since she still had no memory, Buffy looked worried. "Will Giles be angry with me?"

"He shouldn't. It's not as if this was your fault or anything. If he's angry that your family found out because we had to save their lives, he's a prick and you shouldn't worry what he thinks," Faith said dismissively as she flung her arm over B's shoulders.

"We should ask him and D to come explain," Oz suggested.

Faith pulled out her cell and hit number 2 on her speed dial. When her Watcher picked up, she relayed what happened and asked for brainiac assistance.

Diane's gut reaction was to wipe the memories of the evening from the civilian's minds, but unfortunately, since it involved Rupert's Slayer and her family, it was up to him. She repeated her conversation with Faith and they left for the hotel soon after.

* * *

**Hotel room**

**About two hours later…**

After listening to the Watchers explain Faith and Buffy's life, Calleigh was openly crying and the men looked grim.

Hank was horrified, though. "I failed you!" he choked brokenly, kneeling in front of the girl he considered his daughter – DNA evidence notwithstanding. "Your life was a living hell, and you couldn't even count on me to believe you when you tried to tell me."

Buffy looked bewildered at his behavior. Sure she understood that there was something unhappy that happened between them, but without the details or the emotional baggage that went with those details, she wasn't sure if she should forgive him or not. What did he do to her? Or not do? She glanced over at her Watcher for help, only to see him smiling sadly at the father/daughter tableau.

"Umm…that's okay?" Buffy hesitantly offered. "It's a hard thing to accept – even with hard evidence. Or at least that's what I've been told. And if Joyce is right, it isn't even your problem anyway. Since you aren't my dad, you can walk away," she said with a shrug.

Hank gripped her chin firmly so he could make her look him in the eyes. "Like I told her, it doesn't matter if a hundred lawyers and doctors tell me otherwise, I will _always_ think of you as my baby girl – even if you don't think of me as your father," he added with a hint of sadness, letting his hands fall.

Buffy cocked her head to the side and asked curiously, "Why didn't you fight for me then?"

"I did, but the judge didn't like single fathers as much as she liked single mothers, so she gave custody to Joyce," Hank replied bitterly. "Once you two moved here, she kept giving me excuses why you couldn't come to LA for our visitation weekends. When we did get together, you seemed angry with me, so I started to believe what she said about you not wanting me in your life anymore."

Giles coughed slightly, then decided to interject what little he knew about the situation, "I didn't get many details, but from my understanding, Joyce did the opposite with Buffy; told her that it was _you_ who wanted nothing to do with Buffy after the divorce."

Looking hopefully at his daughter, Hank pleaded, "Does this mean we have another chance? Can you forgive me, Buffy?"

Feeling torn, Buffy wasn't sure what she should say, so she opted for the truth, "I want to…honestly, I do." She threw up her hands in frustration and cried out, "Ugh, this is so hard! If I could remember things, I wouldn't feel so lost. Right now the people I feel safest with are Calleigh and Giles. After them, Uncle Mark. I don't mean to hurt you by saying that, but-"

"You can't help how you feel, sweetie. As long as there's a chance for us somewhere down the road, that's enough for me," Hank said, hiding the hurt he felt. "Listen, tonight's been hard on all of us; why don't you and your friends go to your room?"

"Thank you for understanding." She cautiously leaned over to give him a brief hug which he gratefully returned.

* * *

Once she left the room, Hank turned to Calleigh and inquired, "Would you consider taking her in? Obviously she can't stay with Joyce – especially after everything that was said tonight." He repeated the conversation that happened in the house while she and Mark were trying to comfort Buffy in the car.

"Of course I'll take her!" Calleigh exclaimed, slightly offended that he even needed to ask.

Hank nodded his head in relief, "Good. I'd rather not upset Buffy any more than necessary by forcing her to stay with somebody she isn't comfortable with…no matter how much I would love to have her with me."

"And I will go wherever Buffy goes," Giles commented immediately, then explained his reasoning, "Even if she doesn't remember the supernatural, she still needs her Watcher to train her. Despite the evidence now that it would have been a good idea, I never interfered with Joyce's parenting; I won't do it with Miss Duquesne – unless I get the impression she is hurting Buffy like Joyce did. That's assuming Buffy tells me."

Before anyone could object to Rupert's declaration, Diane cut in, "It really _is_ best for a Slayer to have a Watcher. Even with her memory loss, Buffy feels a connection to Rupert – that probably would be frowned upon by the Council if they found out – and if another Watcher tried to take his place, it would probably do more harm than good. I assure you that if I thought there was even the slightest chance of a romantic attachment between them before she was an adult or her memory returned, I would personally see that he was replaced. The only affection between them is friendship or perhaps family."

"Not sure if that makes me feel better or not," Hank said, glaring at the Watcher for a moment. Truthfully, he was relieved that the man who so casually said he would move across the country wasn't doing so in order to- Hank couldn't finish that thought without feeling the urge to strangle Rupert Giles. He trusted Calleigh to protect Buffy from any predatory men.

"So, if Buffy agrees, we'll get custody of Buffy legally changed to Calleigh. If her memory returns, we can reconsider the issue later. I would like to visit her, though," Hank requested.

Calleigh shot him that offended look again; as if she would try to keep them apart! "I'm glad to hear it. It bothered me that your relationship with Buffy fell apart after the divorce. You seemed so close before that – at least from what I could remember."

* * *

A/N: Next…Time for some travel plans and a not-so-heartbreaking goodbye scene.


	15. Chapter 15: The Short Goodbye

**Chapter 15: The Short Goodbye**

A/N: Here ends Buffy's time in Sunnydale…and the active Diagnosis Murder involvement. They may make an appearance or two later – I'm not sure.

Warning: This one is fairly nasty to the Scoobies.

Thanks to my betas: zigpal and AshDawnSoulmates.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. CSI: Miami characters belong to Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn, Ann Donahue and CBS. Diagnosis Murder characters belong to Joyce Burditt and CBS. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

**Hotel**

Calleigh and Hank talked about it and decided that he would give Buffy the optimistically good news that she was going to live with Calleigh and that Giles would go with them to Miami. It was their hope that if he did something positive for Buffy, she would start to lose her reservations about him.

At Giles' suggestion, Calleigh decided to sleep in the same room as Buffy for the night. He was concerned that the visual reminder of her Calling would cause her Slayer nightmares to return. His thought was that by having somebody she felt safe with nearby, it wouldn't get too bad.

Calleigh didn't wait for Buffy's whimpers to turn into cries before she crawled into bed with her cousin to hold her. The comfort she provided kept the dreams from escalating, even if it couldn't stop them entirely. It was over two hours later before Buffy quieted down again and slept peacefully until morning.

In a way, it eased Hank's mind about not fighting Calleigh for custody of Buffy. She showed a natural maternal-ish instinct and Buffy responded subconsciously to it. It was a ringing endorsement in his mind. He started to think that the plan might actually work out…assuming Buffy agreed to it when she woke up.

* * *

**Next morning…**

For the sake of Giles, Diana and Faith, they held off the discussion of Buffy's guardianship until late morning. The three of them finished patrolling, then went over the plans for Giles and Buffy's departure – deciding which books, weapons and other slaying supplies would stay and which would go. As the primary Slayer, Faith needed the majority of the equipment…especially being on a Hellmouth. But none of them were naïve enough to believe that Buffy wouldn't need her own Slayer 'kit' as well.

"Buffy," Hank started to speak as everyone was digging into their room service meal, "We talked about this last night and as much as I'd love to take you to LA with me, we agreed that it would be better for you to go to Miami with Calleigh. Not only do you feel more comfortable with her, but since she's your blood relative, Joyce would have more trouble interfering with Calleigh's guardianship than my own…if she decided that she wanted to cause problems, that is," he explained.

"But what about Sunnydale?" Buffy asked, turning towards Giles. "I thought I'd be needed here."

He shook his head. "Without your memory, I believe it would be too dangerous for you to remain here. It was fortuitous that you were able to fight those vampires last night, but I don't want to risk it again unnecessarily," Giles said with a grimace at the thought of how it could have turned out if she had been alone.

Faith added with a grin, "Don't worry, B…I got SunnyD covered. When you get your memory back, we can fight over who stays here. Well, that is if there isn't enough Slaying for both of us."

Buffy still looked worried about something. Her gaze kept shifting between Giles and Calleigh, giving them a clue as to what was bothering her.

"I will be going with you, Buffy," Giles assured her. "Just because you aren't the Hellmouth Slayer doesn't mean that I would stop being your Watcher or friend."

The utter look of relief on Buffy's face caused a pang in Hank's heart. Clearly this man meant more to her than he did at the moment. If he needed any more reason to loathe his ex-wife, this would more than take care of that problem. He was beginning to think that the _only_ good thing she ever did was give birth to Buffy.

If he were calmer, he would remember the good days they shared, but this wasn't a calmer time…not when the mental image of Joyce about to strike Buffy was so fresh in his mind.

"Really?" Buffy double-checked with a hopeful tone in her voice.

Giles smiled warmly at her. "Really," he confirmed.

Still, Buffy looked at Hank and asked, "And this isn't just a way to get rid of me?"

"I will visit you as often as you want to prove that I still want to be in your life. I could even ask for a transfer to Florida if you'd like," he offered with his own hopeful tone.

It was very sweet of him, but Buffy hesitated, then replied, "It doesn't seem fair to make you move, though. Especially if I don't get my memory back."

"If you don't, then we'll just start over again. I have the feeling that I didn't know you that well these past couple years anyway," Hank said bemusedly, thinking about the previous night and how he reacted the last time he found out about her night activities.

"Okay…but let's just start with the visits for now, alright?" Buffy suggested.

Hank nodded his agreement, grateful for the second chance with his princess.

Since things seemed to be settled, Calleigh spoke up, "I'll go to Aunt Joyce's to pack up Buffy's things. I don't think it would be a good idea for Buffy to go there again."

As policemen, both Steve and Horatio understood her concerns. Too many times they had been called to houses where somebody had just gone back to retrieve their personal belongings, only to have things escalate to the point of domestic violence. Given Joyce's behavior the night before, it wasn't a stretch to think it would happen in this case as well.

Giles made his own recommendation, "I believe Diana should speak to my landlord about taking over my flat…and perhaps another one in that building for Faith. I would like to go to the school and pack up my belongings there." He hesitated for a moment, then continued, "And we should probably arrange for Buffy to say goodbye to the other children. I can call them from the library."

As promised, Giles called Willow's house and left a message with her mother that he needed to see her, Xander and Cordelia at the library as soon as possible. Since he wasn't asking to see her daughter alone on a Saturday morning, Sheila Rosenberg did not feel there was anything improper in the request and promised to pass along the message when she saw Willow. Then he called the houses of the other two and left similar requests.

* * *

**Rosenberg house**

Willow was the first one to get her message. When they found out that Giles had called Xander and Cordelia's houses too, she grinned smugly at the other two. "See…I _knew_ that he'd realize that taking Buffy's side was wrong! She might be the Slayer, but he just had to be reminded of how important we are to their little job."

"What are you talking about, Wills?" Xander asked in confusion. Cordelia didn't seem too affected by Giles' request as she was busy dealing with a nail emergency.

"Most of slaying is the research and Buffy's useless at that," Willow replied in a superior tone. "Giles might be good at the languages and stuff, but if it has anything to do with the computer, he's hopeless, too. I bet he needs my help checking something on the internet. Either that or he needs somebody to think outside the box for a crazy plan that doesn't sound like it would work but does…and who's better at that than you?" she added with a grin as she pointed to Xander.

If Cordelia hadn't been yelling on the phone at her manicurist at that moment, she probably would have made a couple snarky comments about Oz being able to handle the computer thing just as well as Willow could and the fact that the 'crazy plans' that they used most of the time were Buffy's.

"Good point!" Xander agreed willingly. "So you think we should make him sweat for a couple hours? I heard there's a sale going on at Circuit City. It's next to the mall so Cordelia can go fix her nail issue," he added a little louder so his girlfriend could hear. The smile she graced him with proved that she heard him and approved of whatever plan they had.

Willow thought for a moment, then decided, "As long as we're at the library by…say two this afternoon. I don't want to risk the world ending just to prove a point to Giles."

* * *

**Sunnydale High parking lot**

They had just finished packing up the moving truck with his books and weapons when the errant trio finally decided to show up. Giles sent Oz and Steve back to his apartment with the drivers to begin loading his personal belongings that Buffy was packing for him with Faith and Diana's help. He had already left his letter of resignation on the troll- er, Snyder's desk and was just about to get into his car when he heard Willow call out his name.

His eyes narrowed in irritation when he glanced at his watch; he had called them over five hours ago and they were just appearing now? In the past, the longest he ever waited was two and a half…and there were usually babbled apologies by this point for making him worry about them. Plus, they were casually strolling across the parking lot like there wasn't anything wrong.

"Nice of you to finally come," he remarked with a hint of bite to his voice. "I was just leaving to finish up at my apartment, so you'll have to follow me there. First I have to pick up some pizzas on the way."

Without waiting to hear their replies, he got in and started up his car. He had been willing to give them a chance to make amends with Buffy before they left Sunnydale, but their obvious attempt at 'making them wait' made him almost as angry as a visit from Ethan. Clearly they still believed that they were right and Buffy was the one who had to ask forgiveness.

Bewildered by his brusque attitude, Willow tried to figure out what went wrong with their plan. Maybe he had finally gotten Buffy to admit she was lying about the amnesia thing and wanted them there for a groveling session by the blonde Slayer, and when they didn't get there right away, it gave her time to re-think apologizing. Yeah…that sounded just about right. She vaguely wondered what he meant about 'finishing up', but decided that it couldn't be very important – not compared to Buffy eating some humble pie with her pizza.

* * *

**Giles' apartment**

"Hey, what's with all the boxes?" Xander asked as they came into Giles' living room. "Having a garage sale or something? Wait, if you don't have a garage, what's it called?"

"I'm packing because I'm moving," Giles replied, ignoring the irrelevant part of the boy's questions.

Willow was instantly intrigued at the prospect. "Oh yeah? Find a cool place someplace else in town? Maybe with its own training room or something? You'd better make sure that it can get internet."

Giles gestured for Buffy to come over to his side so they could break the news together. "Buffy and I are leaving town to live with a relative of hers until she regains her memory. It is far too dangerous for her to stay without having memories of being Buffy or the Slayer."

"Great!" Cordelia huffed. "So we're stuck doing her job again?"

Diana cut in before either of the other two could add their two cents' worth. "Actually, Faith will be doing _Faith's_ job," she said pointedly. After all, with the death of Kendra, her Slayer was the Chosen One and Buffy was an anomaly.

While it was useful that Buffy was continuing in her former duty, they had no guarantee how long her Slayer powers would last – even without this latest incident. The fact she had been still going a year after her death indicated that she wouldn't lose her abilities; however, Diana wasn't willing to bet the fate of the world on that.

A gleam entered Xander's eyes at that statement, and any protest he might have had quickly died. "Oh, that's great! We'll just be Faith's Slayerettes then. Have fun with your vacation, Buff," he tacked on as an afterthought.

"So this is like a going away party? Shouldn't Mrs. Summers be here then?" Willow asked after a moment of awkward silence following Xander's brushoff of Buffy.

Giles barely bit back a more venomous retort – both to Xander and about the woman who gave birth to his Slayer – and settled on a more diplomatic response, "Buffy has already made her goodbyes to Ms. Summers. Her belongings are on the truck outside."

Conversation remained stilted for a few more minutes before the trio made their final goodbyes to Giles and Buffy. Both Xander and Willow gave Buffy uncomfortable hugs; Willow did the same to Giles, but Xander stuck with a handshake; Cordelia just sort of waved at them from the doorway.

After the door closed, Giles turned to Diana and inquired, "Why did you let them believe they could assist Faith? Are you planning on letting them?"

She scoffed, "Not even before seeing how they treated your Slayer. I'm reluctantly accepting Mr. Osbourne's assistance for the moment – just until Faith learns about the town. Then I'll insist he leave the fighting to us."

"That's cool," Oz agreed. "I'll help with the research, if you want."

Diana nodded her agreement, then asked, "Did any of them even _train_ for fighting?"

Embarrassed, Giles shook his head. "I regret to say that I never insisted on that."

"Well, that was stupid," Faith piped up. When she caught her Watcher glaring at her, she shrugged and said, "What? It is! The only thing more stupid is them not thinking they needed it. No offense, Oz," she added offhandedly. "I mean, they watched how much Buffy had to train, so what made them think that they could just go out and fight vamps with their 'natural talents'?"

"I believe there is enough blame to go around," Diana concluded. "However, it just reaffirms my belief that this is a job for the properly prepared. I didn't say anything because that is between me and them; I didn't want it to make their farewells difficult."

"Yeah, 'cause that would have sucked," Faith snarked. "Sure glad it wasn't difficult." She threw an arm around Buffy and said, "Don't worry, B…I'll miss you and I'm sure Wolfboy will, too."

Even though she was bothered by the way things went with her 'best' friends, Buffy still managed a smile for her sister Slayer. Faith was good at making sure she didn't brood. She was pretty sure brooding wasn't a good look on her.

* * *

As soon as they were out of the door, Willow turned to Xander and snapped, "Oh right, like this wasn't planned. I bet they made this plan as soon as he found out she was back and she faked getting hurt at all. How else would there just _happen_ to be another Slayer already here. And how do you explain how fast they got packed up?"

"Whatever," Xander dismissed her concerns. "At least Faith seems to like being a Slayer so we won't constantly have to listen to Buffy whine about how her life has been destroyed by having super powers."

"As long as she doesn't expect us to worship at her feet…or fight more vampires, I'm more or less okay with her," Cordelia announced.

* * *

A/N: Next…On the road with Buffy, Giles and Calleigh.


End file.
